Subluxation of the Cricoarytenoid Joint After External Laryngeal Trauma: A Rare Case and Review of the Literature.

Cricoarytenoid joint subluxation is rare condition. There are <200 cases reported in the English literature. The most frequent cause of this condition is a traumatic tracheal intubation which account for approximately 80 % of all cases. The most common symptoms are dysphonia and pain of the anterior region of the neck which appear after upper airway manipulation or cervical trauma. In this report we present a well-documented case of a 31 year old male that was referred to the outpatient clinic because of acute dysphonia and pain that appeared immediately after receiving a blow of a soccer ball. Diagnosis was suspected after patient reported the acute onset of symptoms after the traumatic event along with findings in flexible fiberoptic laryngoscopy and videostroboscopy. A CT scan of the larynx was done where the injury of the left cricoarytenoid joint was seen. The patient was informed of the condition and was given the option of surgical reduction or speech therapy. Speech therapy was done for 3 month and the patient was satisfied with the result, although the anatomical abnormality persisted. We reviewed the literature and we discuss the diagnosis process and possible treatment options.

Head and neck paragangliomas: Experience in 126 patients with 162 tumours.

INTRODUCTION: Head and neck paragangliomas are rare tumours of a neuroendocrine nature. The aim of this study was to show our experience in the management of these kind of tumours. METHODS: This was a retrospective study of head and neck paragangliomas diagnosed between 1978 and 2014. A total of 126 patients with 162 tumours were analysed. The paragangliomas included 88 jugulotympanic tumours, 53 carotid tumours and 21 vagal paragangliomas. RESULTS: Mean age at diagnosis was 53.1 years; 87 patients were female (69.1%) and 39, male (30.9%). Multifocality was present in 24 patients (19.1%). Germline mutations were found in 20 patients analysed; SDHD and SDHB were the most frequent. Surgery was performed on 72 isolated paragangliomas: these were 9 carotid, 21 tympanic, 37 jugular and 5 vagal paragangliomas. There were 25 isolated tumours that were observed periodically: 7 carotid, 3 tympanic, 9 jugular and 6 vagal paragangliomas; 5 jugular tumours were irradiated. Multifocal paragangliomas were individually treated, with a total of 26 surgical procedures and 36 tumours resected, 9 irradiated and 12 tumours periodically observed. Postoperative cranial nerve deficits in isolated carotid paragangliomas were lower (15%) compared with jugular tumours (45.5%, P=.04). Nerve deficit was found more frequently in tumours with intradural extension (100%) than in extradural tumours (37.5%, P=.007). CONCLUSIONS: Management of head and neck paragangliomas include surgery, radiotherapy and wait and scan policies. A combination of all of them is usually needed in patients with multifocal paragangliomas.