A 2-year-old with inspiratory stridor and recent cold symptoms shows subglottic swelling. What condition should the specialist suspect?

The presence of inspiratory stridor along with recent cold symptoms and subglottic swelling in a 2-year-old child strongly points to laryngotracheobronchitis, commonly known as croup. This condition typically presents with a viral upper respiratory infection followed by the onset of a barking cough, stridor, and respiratory distress due to inflammation and narrowing of the airway at the subglottic level.

Croup is most frequently caused by viral infections, particularly the parainfluenza virus, and can lead to acute airway obstruction if the swelling is significant. The symptoms of stridor—characterized by a high-pitched wheezing sound produced during inspiration—indicate that there is significant swelling in the upper airway, consistent with the findings of subglottic swelling.

Other conditions, while they may have overlapping symptoms with stridor, do not fit the clinical picture as well as croup does in this scenario. For instance, epiglottitis usually presents with more severe systemic symptoms and is often related to bacterial infections, leading to swelling at the epiglottis rather than the subglottic region. Foreign body aspiration would typically show sudden onset of symptoms without the preceding cold-like symptoms. Mucoviscidosis,