Vocal Cord Actinomycosis Mimicking a Laryngeal Tumor

Abstract

Laryngeal carcinoma and laryngeal papilloma are the most commonly encountered tumorous lesions in the larynx. Herein, we report a case of the mass arising from the left vocal cord in a 49-year-old Japanese man. Endoscopic examination suggested that the mass is a tumor such as carcinoma and papilloma. Pathological examination showed that the specimen demonstrated actinomycosis in the left vocal cord. Although vocal cord actinomycosis is extremely rare, the otolaryngologist should recognize this condition during the inspection of the larynx.

Laryngeal Actinomycosis: A Case Report and Systematic Review of 32 Cases in the Literature

“…Our case and analysis of similar cases shows that primary infection of the larynx restricted only to the glottis or its substructures, has been successfully treated and suppressed with excision of the lesion and eight weeks of oral penicillin based therapy [10,12,13,21]. More involved lesions, such as those with concurrent pulmonary involvement require more invasive therapy, including a course of intravenous antibiotic therapy.…”

“…No cases reported seeding of disease to new site when the primary lesion was restricted only to the larynx. Cases with involvement limited to the larynx were treated with a shorter term dose of oral only antibiotics: 500-625 mg oral penicillin based therapy three times a day for up to 8 weeks following excisional biopsy [10,12,13,21].…”

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“…Treatment of laryngeal actinomycosis very much depends on extent of involvement. Our case and analysis of similar cases shows that primary infection of the larynx restricted only to the glottis or its substructures, has been successfully treated and suppressed with excision of the lesion and eight weeks of oral penicillin based therapy [10,12,13,21]. More involved lesions, such as those with concurrent pulmonary involvement require more invasive therapy, including a course of intravenous antibiotic therapy.…”

Laryngeal actinomycosis with dysplasia in a young male with a recurrent laryngeal polyp

“…Therefore, CFA has been referred to as a 'great masquerader' among diseases of the head and neck. 9 Actinomycosis of the larynx is an extremely rare condition; most of the reported cases occurred in patients who either had a history of laryngeal carcinoma and radiotherapy or presented with an ulcer which resembled relapse of laryngeal cancer. None of the patients presented with an abscess or sinus formation.…”

“…On extensive search of literature, only around 25 cases of laryngeal actinomycosis have been reported to date. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13] We report a rare case of laryngeal actinomycosis associated with focal dysplasia in a 28-year-old man with a complaint of hoarseness of voice with recurrent laryngeal polyp.…”