RESUMO
INTRODUCTION: Vocal fold paralysis it is an important problem in Phoniatrics' Ambulatory. There are a lot of difficulties in estimation a precise incidence of vocal fold paralysis in the population. As many as 50% of cases with paralysis might present nonspecific symptoms. AIM OF THE STUDY: The aim of the research it was to determine a vocal fold paralysis' epidemiology and etiology in material of the Medical University of Warsaw's Ambulatory of Phoniatry. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Authors present a group of 593 patients with vocal cord paralysis who were diagnosed and treated in The Ambulatory of Phoniatry from 2000 to 2011. The paralysis was observed in 439 women and in 154 men. In 488 patients paralysis was unilateral and in 105 - bilateral. RESULTS: In the study, surgery was responsible for most vocal fold paralysis (79.0%). In 357 patients, paralysis was caused by thyroid surgery. Other surgical causes of the paralysis there were: endarterectomy, thoracic surgery and skull base surgery. Of the total group, 1.2% of cases were diagnosed after intubation. In the review, in another 19.8% cases, paralysis was caused by thoracic, neck or brain tumors, by traumas and in 21 patients there was no obvious reason (idiopathic cases). CONCLUSIONS: Etiology of vocal fold paralysis seems to be affected by a character of institutions or hospitals who make a study and by geographic location. The most common etiology of vocal cord paralysis is iatrogenic.
