This study demonstrates functional preservation and improved histological appearance of the injured glottis after a single treatment with topical mitomycin-C. Potential applications of these findings include prophylactic use of topical mitomycin-C on glottic insults that commonly progress from granulation tissue formation to scarring and decreased vocal fold function.

To develop a model for recurrent anterior glottic stenosis and to test the efficacy of topical mitomycin-C in preventing restenosis, we induced anterior glottic stenosis with a CO2 laser in 5 dogs. In 3 dogs, recurrence was established after surgical lysis. Subsequently, the 3 dogs received a single topical 3-minute treatment with a 1% solution of mitomycin-C after a second surgical lysis. In a parallel experiment, the other 2 dogs received a single topical 3-minute treatment with a 1% solution of mitomycin-C after the initial surgical lysis. An anterior glottic web was induced in all 5 dogs with the CO2 laser. The 3 dogs experienced restenosis at the anterior glottis after surgical lysis alone. Mitomycin-C prevented anterior glottic restenosis in 2 of the 3 dogs treated twice and in both of the dogs treated once (p = .02). We conclude that a recurrent stenosis of the anterior glottis may be induced reproducibly in the canine model with the CO2 laser. Application of topical mitomycin-C after lysis of an anterior glottic stenosis produces a statistically significant reduction in the rate of restenosis as compared to surgical lysis alone.

Heat-conducting templates significantly reduced the amount of lateral thermal damage when used with the c.w. CO(2) laser (copper and aluminum) and short-pulsed CO(2) laser (copper). The c.w. CO(2) laser with the copper template compared favorably to the short-pulsed CO(2) laser without a template. Therefore, both heat conductive templates and short-pulse structure provide successful methods for reducing lateral thermal damage, and a combination of the two appears to provide optimal results.

Heat-conducting templates are an effective new method to reduce lateral thermal damage from thermal laser incisions.

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