Symptoms. Diagnosis. Treatment. 51 



of it, an edematous infiltration of the suhniucosa is occasionally 

 seen on the dorsal aspect of the trachea. 



Symptoms. The development of inflammatory edema of 

 the glottis takes place very rapidly; the symptoms of stenosis 

 of the larynx appear within one quarter of an hour or within 

 a few minutes. The animals are attacked by rapidly increas- 

 ing difficulty in respiration; the inspiration especially is very 

 forced and takes place with a marked sinking in of the inter- 

 costal spaces and of the other yielding structures of the thorax ; 

 it is accompanied by a whistling, rattling sound; expiration 

 however is comparatively easy. The animals betray great 

 anxiety, the eyes are staring, the eyeballs protrude, the mucosae 

 become cyanotic, the superficial veins are enormously con- 

 gested, the skin is covered with perspiration, the pulse is small 

 and rapid. If the condition becomes worse, the animals usually 

 succumb, generally after a preliminary fall in temperature and 

 with convulsions. 



In congestive edema the fully developed clinical picture 

 is similar; however, its development takes several days and 

 remissions are often noticeable. 



Diagnosis. Croup of the larynx can be distinguished from 

 primary acute edema glottidis because in the former case 

 stenosis of the larynx occurs much more slowly, only after 

 two to three days, and in connection with fever. Cough is 

 markedly hoarse. Consecutive acute edema glottidis after a 

 longer course of a primary disease leads either suddenly or 

 gradually to stenosis of the larynx; the more chronic cases 

 are distinguished from croup by the existence of the primary 

 disease and by the absence of fever. Laryngeal stenosis due 

 to lodgment of foreign bodies or pediculated neoplasms cannot 

 be distinguished from edema of the glottis except by the history 

 of the case; frequently the true nature of the affection is 

 recognized only subsequently. 



To avoid mistakes, the larynx should, in smaller animals, 

 be inspected with the nnaided eye, in horses, with the electric 

 rhinolaryngoscope ; in cattle, on the other hand, palpation of 

 the larynx with the hand introduced through the pharynx is 

 to be highly recommended, provided it can be done in the 

 presence of the existing dyspnea. 



Treatment. If there is danger of suffocation, tracheotomy 

 should at once be performed, which will immediately alleviate 

 the difficulties of respiration, and will be followed by recovery 

 in primary cases or in cases with moderate inflammation, pro- 

 vided that there is no complicating edema of the trachea. 

 Where, in smaller animals, the symptoms are not so threaten- 

 ing, one may try the ingestion of small pieces of ice, the in- 

 halation of water vapors, or painting with astringents, 



