New Research Publication: Laryngeal Edema & Aspiration in Acute Respiratory Failure Patients

We’re excited to share a new paper from the OTO‑COATI Lab, published in the European Archives of Oto‑Rhino‑Laryngology and made available online March 5, 2026: “Identifying the association between post‑extubation laryngeal edema and aspiration in acute respiratory failure patients.”

Authors include Devin Lucas (OTO-COATI Lab clinical research coordinator), Ryan Peterson, Jared Rieck, Moses Owusu, Edel McNally, Rebecca Scheel, Patricia Cavanagh, Susan Langmore, Ann Kearney, Joseph Levitt, Jonathan Siner, Rosemary Vojnik, Heather Warner, Mitali Sakharkar (BU medical student and OTO‑COATI member), Winston Liu (BU undergraduate and OTO‑COATI member), Alix Rubio (OTO‑COATI alumnus), Marc Moss, and Gintas Krisciunas (OTO‑COATI Lab Director).

This study was done as part of a nationwide consortium looking at complications from acute respiratory failure, with partners from University of Colorado, Stanford, Yale, and a talented group of speech‑language pathologists.

The authors looked at clinical outcomes and FEES (flexible endoscopic evaluation of swallowing) videos from 120 patients who had been intubated, to see how laryngeal swelling after extubation relates to aspiration.

Key takeaways:

• Swelling of the aryepiglottic folds stood out as the strongest predictor of post‑extubation aspiration.
• Weakness independently raised the risk of aspiration.

These findings help us better understand why some patients aspirate after extubation and point toward targets for future research and interventions to reduce those risks.

Huge congratulations to the whole team — and thanks to our consortium collaborators for making this important work possible.

To read the full published article, click here. Also, click here to learn about the consortium’s other research on acute respiratory failure.