PERSISTENT HOARSENESS AND THE ASSESSMENT OF LARYNGEAL MUCOSAL LESIONS BY MICROLARYNGOSCOPY

Background: hoarseness has a diverse etiology. most of the causes are benign but the possibility of laryngeal cancer warrants early investigation and treatment. this study was conducted to determine the etiology of hoarseness in our setup and highlight the importance of microlaryngoscopy in the management of hoarseness. methods: this prospective study was conducted at the department of ent, pgmi/hmc, peshawar from january 1, 2010 to june 30, 2011. a total of 76 cases were included in the study. the indication for microlaryngoscopy was persistent hoarseness of voice. all the patients underwent microlaryngoscopy and the apparently benign looking lesions were excised. in others, examination was limited to determination of extent and taking biopsy from the lesions. diagnosis was made on the basis of laryngoscopic/biopsy findings. the results were analyzed using spss 10.0 for windows. results: a total of 76 patients were included in this study. the male to female ratio was 1.7:1. the type of laryngeal mucosal lesions as determined on microlaryngoscopy was; vocal cord nodules 33%, vocal cord polyps 20%, recurrent respiratory papillomatosis 10.52%, cyst 7.89%, chronic granulomatous inflammation 5.26%, reinke’s edema 3.94%, chronic non specific granulomas 2.6% and subglottic hamangioma 1.31%. two (2.36%) cases were having leukoplakia of the vocal cord and 13.15% cases were diagnosed as malignant. conclusion: chronic persistent hoarseness occurs due to a variety of causes, the majority of which are benign in nature. microlaryngoscopy is a useful tool for the investigation of patients presenting with chronic persistent hoarseness