Giant laryngoceles: a cause of upper airway obstruction

Abstract

Laryngoceles and saccular cysts, which are abnormal dilatations of the laryngeal saccule, are uncommon. The etiology is unknown but is probably related to both congenital and acquired factors. These structures are usually asymptomatic and are incidentally discovered through radiographic studies for unrelated symptoms. We describe two patients with upper airway obstruction, one caused by a giant laryngocele and the other by a large saccular cyst. In the former patient, acute tracheotomy had to be performed. The laryngocele and saccular cyst were removed surgically, which relieved patients' symptoms of upper airway obstruction.

Mixed laryngocoele: A rare cause for acute airway obstruction

“…Congenital predisposition due to ventricular appendix causing respiratory distress in newborn has been reported 15 . Acquired factors that raises intraglottic pressure associated in causation of laryngocoele such as performing Valsalva manoeuvre 16 , playing wind instruments, glass blowing 4,5,7 ventricular phonation during speech 2 , laryngeal papillomatosis in children 7 . Association of laryngocoele with other diseases such as amyloidosis 17 , ankylosing spondylosis 5 , and oncocytic cysts 18 have been reported.…”

“…Laryngocoele are usually asymptomatic 5 , may present with dysphonia 11 , neck swelling 6,15,16 sore throat, cough, dyspnoea, stridor, foreign body sensation, airway obstruction 8,15 rarely. Infection can occur in 10% of cases called laryngopyocoele and it rarely causes death due to aspiration of infective content 7 . There is association between laryngocoele and laryngeal carcinoma and reported incidence varies between 5 -19% 6,9,12,13,19 .…”

“…1,2, 3 85% cases are unilateral 4,5 . Most of them are asymptomatic and incidentally detected on radiographic studies for unrelated symptoms 2,6,7 . But here we report an acute airway obstruction due to laryngocoele which is treated successfully with surgery without need for tracheostomy.…”

Laringocele: uma causa de obstrução de vias aéreas superiores

“…Its cause is unknown, however it is associated with chronic cough, blowing in musical instruments, glass blowing and laryngeal carcinoma. Histologically we find a ciliated pseudostratified cylindrical epithelium with a varied number of goblet cells on a thin basal membrane [1][2][3] .…”

Ultrasound and MRI Findings in a Large Combined Laryngeal Mucocele: Case Report

“…A laryngocele is a rare lesion with an estimated incidence of 1 in 2.5 million persons per year which represents an abnormal dilatation of the saccule in contact with the laryngeal space (1,2). The name laryngeal mucocele or saccular cyst is coined when a laryngocele is filled with mucous and fluid instead of air (2,3).…”