Ultrasound, CT and MRI Appearances of a Rare Symptomatic Laryngeal Chondrometaplasia: A Case Report

Abstract

Symptomatic laryngeal chondrometaplasia is rare. To the best of our knowledge, there are only few case reports on laryngeal chondrometaplasia. The imaging appearance of this uncommon disease is even more rarely described. There are only two case reports describing its appearances in computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Ultrasound (US) features have not been reported so far. This case report is to show the US, CT and MRI features of this disease entity to stress the role of imaging in this disease.

Lateral Vocal Fold Fullness in a Patient With Heavy Voice Use

“…1,2 However, there have been only a few previous case reports describing symptomatic laryngeal lesions consistent with chondroid metaplasia. [3][4][5][6] The etiology of chondroid metaplasia in the larynx is unclear, and a history of laryngeal trauma and laryngitis have been suggested as contributing factors to the development of metaplasia. 2 Nearly 80% of symptomatic patients with chondroid metaplasia reported a history of prior endotracheal intubation.…”

“…Early histopathologic studies have demonstrated that microscopic foci of metaplastic cartilage are found in 1% to 2% of all examined larynges in human cadavers and incidentally in up to 9% of vocal fold surgical specimens . However, there have been only a few previous case reports describing symptomatic laryngeal lesions consistent with chondroid metaplasia . The etiology of chondroid metaplasia in the larynx is unclear, and a history of laryngeal trauma and laryngitis have been suggested as contributing factors to the development of metaplasia .…”