A clinicopathological study of non-malignant lesions of the larynx

Abstract

<p class="abstract">The study was undertaken to identify the type of laryngeal lesions, the age, sex distribution, symptomatology, sites of involvement, conservative and surgical management, histopathological analysis and outcome of the same. This is a prospective study conducted at a tertiary care centre for one and a half years. A total of 20 patients were included based on symptomatology such as hoarseness of voice, foreign body sensation, throat pain, and respiratory distress. All malignant cases were excluded. Hematological and radiological investigations, along with microlaryngoscopic procedures followed by histopathology, were employed. A male preponderance with an M: F ratio of 3:2 was observed. The majority of the patients were in the age group of 30 to 45 years. Vocal cord polyps were observed to be the commonest type of the lesion. A case of a bilobed concomitant tonsillar cyst of the larynx was the rarest encountered. In this study, hoarseness of voice, cough, foreign body sensation, and throat pain proved to be the commonest symptoms. Early diagnosis with routine clinical examination aided by radiological investigation such as contrast enhanced computed tomography (CECT) has proven to be useful in suspicious lesions of the larynx. Micro laryngeal surgery, voice rest, and postoperative speech therapy together offer a cost-effective and safe method for the management of benign laryngeal lesions.</p>