Unilateral recurrent nerve palsy and cardiovascular disease – Ortner's syndrome

Abstract

Recurrent laryngeal palsies are relatively common. Frequently, surgical procedures precede paresis. In rare cases a compression of the recurrent laryngeal nerve can be caused by enlarged cardiovascular structures. The phenomenon of compression of the left recurrent laryngeal nerve is explicitly designated as Ortner's syndrome, first described in 1897 by Norbert Ortner. Nowadays the compression of the right recurrent laryngeal nerve by cardiovascular structures is also associated with Ortner's syndrome.We report two cases of an 82- and a 71-year-old patient who presented with hoarseness and each right- and left-sided vocal cord paralysis for further diagnosis. The ear, nose, and throat (ENT) examinations revealed no clarifying findings besides the vocal cord palsy, so extensive imaging techniques were used. The cause of left-sided recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy was a penetrated aortic ulcer caused by large thrombosed aneurysm of the aortic arch. The right-sided paresis arose due to aneurysmal enlargement of the brachiocephalic trunk and an aneurysm of right subclavian artery.These cases demonstrate that interdisciplinary medical work is important. The internal medical presentation of a patient with hoarseness without ENT medical findings should be considered.<Learning objective: Ortner's syndrome is described as the compression of the recurrent laryngeal nerve of pathologically enlarged cardiac structures such as left atrium in mitral stenosis, aortic aneurysm, and others. It is a rare cause of vocal cord paralysis and thus hoarseness but should be considered as a differential diagnosis, particularly if the patient has a cardiac history.>