Birth defect upper airway

Learn more about this rare heart defect that makes it difficult for the heart to pump the right amount of blood to both the lungs and the body.

Laryngomalacia (LM) is the most frequent cause of noisy breathing in infants and children. Learn more about what causes laryngomalacia, common symptoms and treatment.

Learn about the programs and services available for laryngomalacia at Boston Children’s Hospital.

Congenital tracheomalacia is weakness and floppiness of the walls of the windpipe (trachea). Congenital means it is present at birth. Acquired tracheolmalacia is a related topic.

CHAOS, or Congenital High Airway Obstruction Syndrome is a blockage of the fetus’s trachea (windpipe) or larynx (voice box). This obstruction can be due to a number of factors including narrowing of the airway (stenosis), a web-like membrane, or even an area of the trachea that i

Laryngomalacia is the most frequent cause of noisy breathing (stridor) in infants and children. It is the most common congenital anomaly (birth defect) of the voice box (larynx). Laryngomalacia is best described as floppy tissue above the vocal cords that falls into the airway when the infant breathes in. The cause of laryngomalacia and the reason why the tissue is floppy are unknown. Most likely, the part of the nervous system that gives tone to the airway is underdeveloped.

These abnormalities—which are caused before birth by mutations, or changes, to chromosomes—can affect any part of the airway, including the nasal cavity; tongue; esophagus, which is the tube that carries food to the stomach; larynx, or voice box; trachea, or windpipe; and lungs.