Clinical profile of carcinoma larynx in 50 adult patients

Objective: to study the clinical profile of carcinoma larynx in adult patients admitted to a tertiary care hospital in peshawar. material and methods: the study was conducted in the department of otorhinolaryngology,khyber teaching hospital,peshawar from january 2007 to december 2009. fifty newly diagnosed cases of carcinoma larynx were included in the study. a detailed history was taken and a thorough physical examination performed on every patient. all patients were investigated with indirect laryngoscopy,direct microlaryngoscopy,ct scan/mri and findings recorded on standard proforma. the results were analyzed using spss version 10. results: out of 50 patients,47 (94%) were male and 3 (6%) were female. the majority of patients were between 50-60 years of age. the age range was 40-70 years with a mean age of 51.27 years. the main symptoms were hoarseness (90%),globus or foreign body sensation (60%),neck lump (54%),and stridor in 20 (40%). forty-one patients (82%) were smokers. none used alcohol and only 5 (10%) patients had a family history of laryngeal carcinoma. clinically 62% patients presented with stage 1 and 2,and 38% with stage 3 and 4 disease. the most common site was the glottic region (44%),followed by transglottic (32%),supraglottic (22%) and subglottic area (2%). conclusion: carcinoma larynx is significantly more common in males who smoke. early recognition of carcinoma larynx is a key factor to minimize the mortality and morbidity.