Epidermoid Cysts of the Vocal Cords: An Undiagnosed Clinical Entity

The present study was carried out on 20 patients at SIKMS Medical College from January 2000 to March 2001. All the patients presented with hoarseness of voice. Laryngeal examination revealed smooth well-defined swelling involving left vocal cord in 12 cases, right vocal cord in 6 cases and bilateral involvement was noticed in 2 cases. Dysphonia being the main symptom, only one patient complained of some difficulty in breathing. Seventy-five percent of the patients were females. The lesion was generally located in the middle third of the vocal cord,just beneath its free border. The diagnosis was established by direct laryngoscope excision and histopathological examination of the lesion.