[Clinical features and management analysis of 11 cases of laryngocele].

Objective: To summarize clinical features and our experience of the diagnosis and treatment of laryngocele. Methods: Clinical data of 11 laryngocele patients in department of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Shanxi Medical University from January 2012 to December 2021 were retrospectively reviewed, including 9 men and 2 women, aged from 12 to 75 years, with median age of 56 years. Electronic laryngoscope was performed in 10 of all patients, laryngeal CT in 10 and cervical color ultrasound in 5 before operation.All the operations were performed under general anesthesia, and the external cervical approach was used for external and combined laryngocele. The internal laryngocele was resected by low temperature plasma through transoral endoscopy. Patients were followed up regularly after operation to evaluate the effect. Clinical feature, types of lesions, imaging findings, surgical approaches and follow-up results were analyzed through descriptive statistical method. Results: Eleven laryngocele patients were divided into mixed type (n=6), internal type (n=4) and external type (n=1).Nine patients presented with hoarseness or dysphonia, 7 with cervical mass and 1 with airway obstruction. Surgical resections were done through external cervical approach (n=7)or transoral endoscopic approach (n=4). All the operations were successful and no complication occurred. All cases were followed up from 17 to 110 months. No recurrence was encountered. Conclusions: Laryngocele is a rare lesion with atypical clinical presentation. Preoperative imaging including CT scan and electronic laryngoscope is essential to evaluate the location, and extent of the lesion, and to make the surgical plan.Complete surgical excision is required. Surgical resection is the only effective method for the treatment of laryngocele.

Clinical features and management analysis of 11 cases of laryngocele / 中华耳鼻咽喉头颈外科杂志

Objective: To summarize clinical features and our experience of the diagnosis and treatment of laryngocele. Methods: Clinical data of 11 laryngocele patients in department of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Shanxi Medical University from January 2012 to December 2021 were retrospectively reviewed, including 9 men and 2 women, aged from 12 to 75 years, with median age of 56 years. Electronic laryngoscope was performed in 10 of all patients, laryngeal CT in 10 and cervical color ultrasound in 5 before operation.All the operations were performed under general anesthesia, and the external cervical approach was used for external and combined laryngocele. The internal laryngocele was resected by low temperature plasma through transoral endoscopy. Patients were followed up regularly after operation to evaluate the effect. Clinical feature, types of lesions, imaging findings, surgical approaches and follow-up results were analyzed through descriptive statistical method. Results: Eleven laryngocele patients were divided into mixed type (n=6), internal type (n=4) and external type (n=1).Nine patients presented with hoarseness or dysphonia, 7 with cervical mass and 1 with airway obstruction. Surgical resections were done through external cervical approach (n=7)or transoral endoscopic approach (n=4). All the operations were successful and no complication occurred. All cases were followed up from 17 to 110 months. No recurrence was encountered. Conclusions: Laryngocele is a rare lesion with atypical clinical presentation. Preoperative imaging including CT scan and electronic laryngoscope is essential to evaluate the location, and extent of the lesion, and to make the surgical plan.Complete surgical excision is required. Surgical resection is the only effective method for the treatment of laryngocele.

Mixed laryngocele mimicking thyroid nodule.

Laryngocele is defined as a dilation of the laryngeal saccule forming an air sac. Some differential diagnoses for laryngocele have been reported. The aim of the present paper was to describe a case of a patient referred for the evaluation a suspected thyroid nodule that was subsequently diagnosed as a mixed laryngocele. A 31-year-old male with no clinical manifestations was referred by an endocrinologist to undergo Doppler ultrasonography and fine-needle aspiration biopsy due to a preliminary ultrasonographic diagnosis of a nodule apparently in the thyroid. The diagnosis of laryngocele was raised considering the cytopathological analysis and imaging exam. Computed tomography of the neck confirmed this hypothesis. The patient was counseled to consult a surgeon, but, up to the end of this report, continued asymptomatic and in follow-up. We report a mixed laryngocele with different clinical behavior, showing that laryngocele may appear to be another entity and drawing the attention of clinicians to imaging similarities.

An unusual cause of infant's stridor - congenital laryngocele.

Congenital laryngocele is an uncommon cause of neonatal stridor. There are only a few cases reported in the literature. The authors present a successfully treated case of an infant, whose life could only be saved by urgent tracheostomy. On the 5th postoperative day endoscopic excision and marsupialization provided patent airway. The patient could be decannulated. During follow-up no recurrence was observed.

Bilateral external laryngocele: a case report.

Laryngocele is a rare benign lesion of the larynx caused by an abnormal dilatation of the laryngeal saccule. We report the case of a 78-year-old man presenting bilateral cervical painless soft mass. Bilateral external laryngocele diagnosis was confirmed by CT scan and the patient underwent a surgical resection.

Laryngoceles: Concepts of diagnosis and management.

A laryngocele is an abnormal dilatation of the laryngeal saccule. It is a rare benign lesion of the larynx. Various modalities of treatment have been advocated for its management. We present our treatment results and outcomes of a series of cases of laryngoceles and discuss the concepts of their management. This study included patients with different laryngocele types. Patients with an internal laryngocele underwent endoscopic CO2 laser resection, while those with a combined laryngocele underwent resection via a V-shaped lateral thyrotomy approach. Seven patients had an internal laryngocele, and 4 patients had a combined laryngocele. Hoarseness and neck swelling were the most common symptoms. The mean follow-up period was 8.5 months. None of the patients needed a tracheostomy either preoperatively or postoperatively, or had recurrence of laryngocele. We advocate the lateral thyrotomy approach for combined laryngoceles as it provides safe, precise, and complete resection under direct visualization via a single approach, while we favor the endoscopic laser approach for the internal ones as it allows resection of the entire lesion with minimal laryngeal trauma, less operative time, and a shorter hospital stay.

Bilateral combined laryngocele.

Laryngocele is an uncommon condition that represents a benign dilatation of the laryngeal saccule with air and/or fluid, arising in the region of the laryngeal ventricle. Laryngoceles, or laryngomucocele can be classified as internal, or combined. The aim of presenting this rare case of a bilateral combined laryngocele, are to emphasize the importance of diagnostic laryngoscopy in upper airway pathologies evaluation, increase awareness in the general otolaryngologist community, and to highlight the external surgical method.

Spontaneous rupture of an internal laryngocele after neck dissection: a rare complication.

We present a rare, and to the best of our knowledge, previously unreported complication of the spontaneous rupture of an internal laryngocele after a routine neck dissection for metastatic squamous cell carcinoma. While this caused some diagnostic confusion, the patient was managed conservatively with no further complications.

Supra-thyroid alar cartilage approach for the complete resection of laryngeal submucosal tumors and postoperative voice quality.

Various surgical approaches for the treatment of laryngeal submucosal tumors have been reported. Endoscopic excision is indicated for small lesions, while external approaches are recommended for larger tumors. This report introduces a supra-thyroid alar cartilage approach (STACA), which has strong advantages for the preservation of the laryngeal framework and voice recovery after surgery. Case series with chart review. Four patients with laryngeal submucosal tumors in the paraglottic space underwent complete tumor removal through STACA. Medical charts were reviewed to evaluate patient background, major complaints, tumor type, tumor size, the time period from operation to tracheostomy closure, tumor recurrence, and the difference between pre- and postoperative voice quality. Voice quality was assessed using the GRBAS score, maximum phonation time (MPT) and Voice Handicap Index-10 (VHI-10) 6 months after surgery. All patients were females between 43 and 67 years of age. Two patients had schwannoma, one laryngocele, and one lipoma. Mean tumor size was 3.4 cm. The main complaints were hoarseness in all patients, and dyspnea in one. The periods of time from surgery to oral intake and tracheostomy closure were 3.5 and 7 days, respectively. No patient developed recurrence during a minimum follow-up period of 2 years. The postoperative GRBAS scores, MPT and VHI-10 improved in all patients. STACA has advantages including minimal trauma, no deformity to the laryngeal framework, and good voice qualities after the resection of laryngeal submucosal tumors.

The trumpet player with a swelling in the neck.

Bilateral neck swelling in patients following valsalva manouveres could lead to a diagnosis of either a pharyngocele or laryngocele. Distinguishing between them can be complicated but is vital given the possibility for an acute airway in patients with laryngoceles. A 20-year-old trumpet player presents with a 5-year history of neck swelling. Clinical suspicion is that of a pharyngocele but imaging introduces some confusion with the diagnosis. Both pharyngoceles and laryngoceles can occur as a result of prolonged positive pressure. Accurate assessment with fibreoptic examination and imaging is needed to confirm the diagnosis. Pharyngoceles are often misdiagnosed as laryngoceles. Though treatment is similar between the two patient groups it is vital that a distinction is made to enable careful observation of the airway in patients with laryngoceles.

Lethal laryngopyocele.

A 44-year-old man collapsed after complaining of difficulty breathing. Layer dissection of the neck at autopsy revealed a large mixed internal and external laryngopyocele occluding the upper airway. It contained 30 mls of yellow-gray pus. Mechanisms of death in laryngoceles involve obstruction of the opening into the larynx resulting in accumulation of mucus or air within the sac causing airway occlusion. Once infection supervenes, deaths in laryngopyocoeles result either from accumulated pus causing airway occlusion from a mass effect (as in the current case) or the discharge of pus into the airway causing death from aspiration. Sudden death in laryngopyoceles is a very rare event that requires careful dissection at autopsy to demonstrate the characteristics of the underlying lesion and the possible mechanism of death. Laryngopyocele should be considered in the differential diagnosis of natural conditions causing acute, potentially lethal, upper airway obstruction.

Internal laryngocoele and referred otalgia.

A 74-year-old woman presented with severe right ear pain associated with bleeding of 2 months' duration and vertigo. She was otherwise fit and well apart from arthritis. On examination there was dried blood overlying the right ear drum and very mild inflammation of the canal but no obvious acute infection. The dried blood was removed in subsequent clinic visits. The ear drum was intact and there was no evidence of infection. However, the patient still had persistent pain in the right ear. A diagnosis of referred otalgia was made. Nose, throat, neck, temporo-mandibular joint, oral examination and flexible nasoendoscopic examination were normal. She underwent MRI of her neck which revealed a right supraglottic mass. Laryngoscopy was performed. Intra-operative findings revealed a smooth right supraglottic mass, which was thought to be an internal laryngocoele. The laryngocoele was de-roofed. The histology specimen showed no evidence of neoplasia.