Acute epiglottitis in adults.

Nine cases of acute epiglottitis in adults, seen over a period of ten years, are presented. The presence of severe pain and dysphagia as universal presenting features are stressed, and the frequent absence of pharyngeal injection is noted. We found that the disease in adults differs from that in children in that pain and dysphagia are more marked, that stridor is a less prominent feature, and that Haemophilus influenzae appears not to be the sole causative organism.