An unusual case of anterior and posterior laryngeal cleft together: combined cleft of larynx

Abstract

Congenital clefts of the larynx are rare and usually found dorsally. An anterior or ventral cleft of the larynx is extremely rare. Only a few patients with this defect have been reported in the literature. The purpose of this paper is to present a patient having an anterior and posterior laryngeal cleft together. A 20-year-old man presented with a history of dysphonia since childhood. He did not report symptoms of swallowing or respiration, and had no history of neck trauma. Findings of videolaryngoscopy showed a grossly abnormal larynx. The anterior commissure was wider than normal, and the vocal folds did not show a fusion anteriorly. There was an interarytenoid cleft posteriorly. A neck CT with 3D reconstruction demonstrated a ventral cleft or nonfusion of the thyroid cartilage with a posterior cricoid cleft. Barium swallow study was in normal limits. Since the patient did not have any problem with swallowing or respiration, no surgical intervention was planned, and the patient was put on speech therapy, which revealed improvement in voice. To our knowledge, this is the first case of a combined laryngeal cleft. The diagnosis is established by the clinical symptoms, endoscopic evaluation, and radiographic examinations including 3D and barium studies.