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Progressive Hoarseness and Laryngeal Obstruction in an Elderly Man

Educational Objective
Based on this clinical scenario and the accompanying image, understand how to arrive at a correct diagnosis.
1 Credit CME

An otherwise healthy man in his 60s presented to a tertiary otolaryngology clinic reporting a 1-year medical history of progressively worsening hoarseness and dyspnea. He denied any history of dysphagia, odynophagia, fevers, unintentional weight loss, cough, or reflux symptoms. There was no prior history of smoking, head and neck surgeries, or radiation exposure. He was treated for asthma with inhaled steroids by his primary care physician without improvement in symptoms. On physical examination, the patient was stridulous and considerably hoarse. His neck examination was unremarkable. Subsequent videostroboscopy revealed severe laryngeal mucosal edema, most significant in the false vocal folds, interarytenoid, and postcricoid regions (Figure 1A). There was right true vocal fold immobility with compensatory squeeze of the false vocal folds and an absent mucosal wave. Computed tomographic (CT) scan of the neck with contrast showed irregularity along the free edges of the true vocal folds but no evidence of a neoplasm or cervical lymphadenopathy. The patient underwent urgent direct laryngoscopy with biopsy, which showed edematous, irregular, friable laryngeal mucosa with significant airway narrowing. Laryngeal biopsy findings are shown in Figure 1, B and C.

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An otherwise healthy man in his 60s presented to a tertiary otolaryngology clinic reporting a 1-year medical history of progressively worsening hoarseness and dyspnea. He denied any history of dysphagia, odynophagia, fevers, unintentional weight loss, cough, or reflux symptoms. There was no prior history of smoking, head and neck surgeries, or radiation exposure. He was treated for asthma with inhaled steroids by his primary care physician without improvement in symptoms. On physical examination, the patient was stridulous and considerably hoarse. His neck examination was unremarkable. Subsequent videostroboscopy revealed severe laryngeal mucosal edema, most significant in the false vocal folds, interarytenoid, and postcricoid regions (Figure 1A). There was right true vocal fold immobility with compensatory squeeze of the false vocal folds and an absent mucosal wave. Computed tomographic (CT) scan of the neck with contrast showed irregularity along the free edges of the true vocal folds but no evidence of a neoplasm or cervical lymphadenopathy. The patient underwent urgent direct laryngoscopy with biopsy, which showed edematous, irregular, friable laryngeal mucosa with significant airway narrowing. Laryngeal biopsy findings are shown in Figure 1, B and C.

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Article Information

Corresponding Author: Kenneth W. Altman, MD, PhD, Department of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, Geisinger Medical Center, 100 N Academy Ave, Danville, PA 17822 (kaltman@geisinger.edu).

Published Online: August 4, 2022. doi:10.1001/jamaoto.2022.1945

Conflict of Interest Disclosures: Dr Altman reported consultant and speaker fees from Merck and Vindico for medical education and CME activities related to best practice in chronic cough, personal fees from AXDEV for consulting in a marketing study supported by Merck, uncompensated work from Lyra Site PI in a clinical trial, and personal fees from Medscape for speaking in a CME program supported by Merck outside the submitted work. No other disclosures were reported.

Additional Contributions: We thank the patient for granting permission to publish this information.

AMA CME Accreditation Information

Credit Designation Statement: The American Medical Association designates this Journal-based CME activity activity for a maximum of 1.00  AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Successful completion of this CME activity, which includes participation in the evaluation component, enables the participant to earn up to:

  • 1.00 Medical Knowledge MOC points in the American Board of Internal Medicine's (ABIM) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program;;
  • 1.00 Self-Assessment points in the American Board of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery’s (ABOHNS) Continuing Certification program;
  • 1.00 MOC points in the American Board of Pediatrics’ (ABP) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program;
  • 1.00 Lifelong Learning points in the American Board of Pathology’s (ABPath) Continuing Certification program; and
  • 1.00 credit toward the CME of the American Board of Surgery’s Continuous Certification program

It is the CME activity provider's responsibility to submit participant completion information to ACCME for the purpose of granting MOC credit.

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