Prevalence and characterisation of exercise-induced laryngeal obstruction in patients with exercise-induced dyspnoea.

OBJECTIVE: The prevalence of exercise-induced laryngeal obstruction is largely unknown. This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of this condition in a selected study population of patients with exercise-induced dyspnoea. METHOD: A retrospective analysis was conducted of demographic data, co-morbidities, medication, symptoms, performance level of sporting activities, continuous laryngoscopy exercise test results and subsequent treatment. RESULTS: Data from 184 patients were analysed. The overall prevalence of exercise-induced laryngeal obstruction in the study population was 40 per cent, and the highest prevalence was among females aged under 18 years (61 per cent). However, a high prevalence among males aged under 18 years (50 per cent) and among adults regardless of gender (34 per cent) was also found. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of exercise-induced laryngeal obstruction is clinically relevant regardless of age and gender. Clinicians are encouraged to consider exercise-induced laryngeal obstruction as a possible diagnosis in patients suffering from exercise-induced respiratory symptoms. No single characteristic that can distinguish exercise-induced laryngeal obstruction from other similar conditions was identified.

Vocal Outcome After Cordectomy by Transoral CO2 Laser Microsurgery in Patients With Laryngeal Intraepithelial Neoplasia and Non-neoplastic Lesions.

OBJECTIVES: This study investigates vocal outcome after cordectomy by transoral CO2 laser microsurgery (TLM-cordectomy) in patients with laryngeal intra-epithelial neoplasia (LIN) or non-neoplastic lesions (NNL), for improved individual patient advice and potential adjustment of national treatment strategy by which patients suspected to have glottic LIN or T1a cancer are offered TLM-cordectomy, without prior biopsy. STUDY DESIGN: Prospective, longitudinal, quasi-experimental time series. METHODS: Consecutively included patients (n = 155) with LIN (n = 84) or NNL (n = 71) who underwent voice assessments before and after TLM-cordectomy. The multi-dimensional voice assessment protocol comprised voice and speech range profiles, aerodynamics, acoustic analysis, self-evaluated voice handicap, and perceptual auditory voice ratings. RESULTS: Median follow-up time was 195 (range 50-1121) days for patients with LIN and 193 (range 69-1294) days for patients with NNL. Statistically significant changes, LIN: in voice handicap index (VHI) and breathiness after TLM-cordectomy. Statistically significant changes, NNL: voice range profile (voice range area, intensity range, and frequency range) and VHI after TLM-cordectomy. All group-wise changes were to less disordered voices. Previous smokers had the largest decreases in VHI and breathiness. Patients with baseline VHI scores >65 had smaller increases in VHI, however 13-19% of the patients had increases in VHI above the clinically relevant threshold after TLM-cordectomy. CONCLUSION: Overall, TLM-cordectomy in patients with LIN and NNL improved vocal outcome and our study thus supports the current Danish treatment strategy and improves the basis for proper patient advice. Multi-dimensional voice assessment is suggested preoperatively and six-nine months postoperatively, with focus on individual vocal differences and voice demands.

Interrater variation of vascular classifications used in enhanced laryngeal contact endoscopy.

PURPOSE: Combined use of contact endoscopy (CE) and Narrow Band Imaging (NBI, Olympus®) is suggested for the visualization of specific vascular changes indicative of glottic neoplasia. We investigated the interrater reliability and agreement in 3 recognized classification systems of vascular changes applied to images from CE + NBI in patients suspected for glottic neoplasia. METHODS: Six experienced head and neck surgeons familiar with NBI rated 120 images obtained by CE + NBI by 3 classification systems of vascular changes as suggested by Ni et al. (N-C), Puxeddu et al. (P-C), and the European Laryngological Society (ELS-C). Three raters were experienced in CE, and three raters had only limited experience with CE. Crude agreement and Fleiss' kappa with 95% confidence interval were estimated for all 6 raters, and for the 2 levels of expertise for each original classification system and for dichotomized versions of the N-C and the P-C based on suggested neoplastic potential. RESULTS: The interrater crude agreement and the corresponding kappa values for the ELS-C were good and significantly higher than those for the N-C and P-C for all raters, irrespective of the level of experience with CE (p < 0.0001). There were no significant differences between the N-C and the P-C (p = 0.16). Kappa was considerably improved for both the N-C and the P-C to a level not different from the ELS-C (p = 0.21-0.71) when their 5 original categories were pooled into dichotomized classifications. CONCLUSION: Difficulties in reliably classifying vascular changes in CE + NBI are evident. Two-tier classification systems are the most reliable.

Recurrent respiratory papillomatosis with lower airway involvement in a young woman.

Radiological presentation of bronchiectasis should prompt the respiratory physician to investigate various differential diagnosis leading to this condition. This case report describes a young non-smoking woman with HPV11 induced laryngeal Recurrent Respiratory Papillomatosis (RRP) since early childhood, who developed progressive exertional dyspnea. A thorough diagnostic process revealed HPV11 infection in the lung parenchyma consistent with RRP in the lower airways, an HPV infection that was most likely obtained from the patient´s mother during vaginal birth. This case report illustrates that also respiratory physicians should keep RRP in mind in persons with the radiological presentation of bronchiectasis previously diagnosed RRP in the upper airways.

Value of pre- and intraoperative diagnostic methods in suspected glottic neoplasia.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the individual and combined ability of videostroboscopy (VS), high-speed digital imaging (HSDI), enhanced endoscopy (EE) and saline infusion (SI) to predict neoplasia, defined as glottic precursor lesion (GPL) or T1a glottic cancer, in patients suspected for glottic neoplasia. METHODS: A nationwide prospective cohort study of patients treated by cordectomy for suspected GPL or T1a glottic cancer from August 1st 2016 to October 31st 2018 was conducted in the five Danish University Departments of Head and Neck surgery. Sensitivity, specificity, negative and positive predictive values, and area under Receiver Operating Curves (AUC-ROC) were calculated with 95% confidence intervals with respect to the histological diagnosis. Logistic regression with an imputation model for missing data was applied. RESULTS: 261 patients aged 34-91 years participated; 79 (30.3%) with non-neoplasia (i.e., inflammation, papilloma, hyperkeratosis) and 182 (69.7%) neoplasia, hereof 95 (36.4%) with GPL and 87 (33.3%) with T1a glottic cancer. Data from 188 VS, 60 HSDI, 100 preoperative EE, 209 intraoperative EE, and 234 SI were analyzed. In the complete case analysis the AUC-ROC of each diagnostic test was low, but increased when the tests were combined and especially if the combination included EE. However, multinomial logistic regression with imputation showed significant association (p < 0.05) only between age, male gender, and perpendicular vasculature in intraoperative EE, and the endpoint neoplasia. CONCLUSIONS: Intraoperative EE was the most accurate diagnostic method in detecting neoplasia. The prediction ability of methods applied preoperatively was more limited, but improved when test modalities were combined.

The Impact of Post-thyroidectomy Paresis on Quality of Life in Patients with Nodular Thyroid Disease.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the impact of postoperative paresis on disease-specific quality of life (DSQoL) after thyroidectomy in patients with benign nodular thyroid disease. STUDY DESIGN: Observational study. SETTING: University hospital. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Patients were evaluated before and 3 weeks and 6 months after surgery in an individual prospective cohort study using videolaryngostroboscopy (VLS), voice range profile, voice handicap index (VHI), multidimensional voice program, maximum phonation time (MPT), and auditory perceptual evaluation. Changes in DSQoL were assessed by the Thyroid-specific Patient-Reported Outcome measure. Cohen's effect size was used to evaluate changes. RESULTS: Sixty-two patients were included, 55 of whom completed all examinations. Three weeks after surgery, a blinded VLS examination showed signs of paresis of either the recurrent laryngeal nerve or the external branch of the superior laryngeal nerve (RLN/EBSLN) in 13 patients (24%). A paresis corresponded to a 12 ± 28 point increase in VHI (P = .002) and was associated with a significant 4.3 ± 7.5 semitone decrease in the maximum fundamental frequency (P < .001) and a 5.3 ± 8.2 dB reduction in maximum intensity. Further, it was associated with a 4.5 ± 11.2 second reduction in MPT (P = .001) and an increase of 0.40 ± 1.19 in grade, 0.42 ± 1.41 in roughness, and 0.36 ± 1.11 in breathiness. Signs of postoperative RLN/EBSLN paresis correlated with an 11.0-point (P = .02) poorer improvement in goiter symptoms at both 3 weeks and 6 months after surgery. CONCLUSION: Signs of RLN/EBSLN paresis after thyroidectomy were associated with less pronounced improvement in goiter symptoms in patients with thyroid nodular disease. However, thyroidectomy was associated with an overall improved DSQoL by 6 months after surgery.

Laryngeal precursor lesions: Interrater and intrarater reliability of histopathological assessment.

OBJECTIVE: The World Health Organization classification (WHOC) 2017 of low-grade versus high-grade laryngeal dysplasia recently replaced the previous WHOC 2005 of mild, moderate, and severe dysplasia and carcinoma in situ. Our objectives were to compare the interrater agreement of the WHOC 2017 with that of the WHOC 2005 and to test the intra-rater agreement of the WHOC 2005. METHODS: Two expert head and neck pathologists rated 211 tissue samples that were initially diagnosed with laryngeal precursor lesions. The samples were rated twice according to the WHOC 2005 and once according to the WHOC 2017; estimates of interrater and intrarater agreements were calculated with kappa statistics. RESULTS: The crude intrarater agreements using the WHOC 2005 were 0.93 for rater 1 and 0.62 for rater 2. The corresponding unweighted kappa values were 0.90 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.86-0.95) for rater 1 and 0.43 (95% CI, 0.35-0.54) for rater 2, whereas the standard linear weighted kappa values were 0.93 (95% CI, 0.90-0.97) for rater 1 and 0.60 (95% CI, 0.53-0.69) for rater 2. The crude interrater agreement for the WHOC 2005 was 0.57, with a corresponding unweighted kappa value 0.38 (95% CI, 0.31-0.48) and a standard linear weighted kappa value 0.52 (95% CI, 0.42-0.60). The crude interrater agreement for the WHOC 2017 was 0.83, with a corresponding unweighted kappa value 0.45 (95% CI, 0.31-0.59) and a standard linear weighted kappa value 0.46 (95% CI, 0.30-0.60). CONCLUSION: Our results indicate difficulties in providing reliable diagnosis of laryngeal precursor lesions, even with experienced head and neck pathologists and the application of a newly revised classification system. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 4. Laryngoscope, 128:2375-2379, 2018.

Supraglottoplasty as treatment of exercise induced laryngeal obstruction (EILO).

Breathing difficulties during exertion may be caused by exercise-induced laryngeal obstruction (EILO). The diagnosis depends on visualization of the larynx during exercise, i.e. by continuous laryngoscopic exercise (CLE) test. In case of severe supraglottic collapse and pronounced symptoms during strenuous exertion, surgical treatment (supraglottoplasty) has been suggested. The aims of this study were to evaluate outcome and patient satisfaction after supraglottoplasty for EILO and to compare our results with previously reported data. During the period December 2010 to October 2013, 17 patients diagnosed with moderate to severe supraglottic EILO were treated by supraglottoplasty with microlaryngoscopic laser technique at our institutions. The severity of patients symptoms (VAS score) and CLE scores was evaluated pre- and postoperatively. We found a decrease in patients symptoms from median 80 points VAS score preoperatively to 20 points postoperatively (p < 0.001) and a decrease in CLE sum score from median 4.0 points to 2.5 points (p < 0.05). Several previous studies have recommended surgery for selected patients with supraglottic involvement, but these have mainly been based on case reports or on very few patients. This study is the second larger-scale study that documents the positive effect of supraglottoplasty as treatment of EILO in terms of reduced respiratory symptoms and decreased laryngeal obstruction assessed by post-operative CLE test. We suggest that surgery is a well-tolerated and effective treatment option for selected EILO patients with moderate to severe supraglottic obstruction during exercise and a high level of physical activity.

[Vocal fold palsy--etiology and outcome]. / Stemmebåndsparese--aetiologi og forløb.

INTRODUCTION: The etiology of vocal fold palsy (VFP) is varied, and both Danish and foreign studies report variable frequencies of causes. We have evaluated etiologies of both unilateral (UVFP) and bilateral palsy (BVFP) and also analyzed the outcome of the palsies. As far as we know, our material is the largest published in Danish. MATERIAL AND METHODS: From 01.01.2000 to 30.06.2004 229 patients with VFP were evaluated in the ENT department of Odense University Hospital. We reviewed medical records and registered and analyzed data regarding etiology and outcome. RESULTS: Trauma caused 39% of all cases and was thereby the most common etiology of VFP. 27% of the cases were idiopathic. Cancer caused 22% of all cases, most frequent for left-sided UVFP, but also a substantial number of right-sided and bilateral cases were due to malignancy. Neurological disease caused 18% of BVFP but only 1% of UVFP. The outcome of the palsy depended on the etiology. VFP caused by malignancy only rarely recovered. Chances of recovery were greatest for idiopathic VFP or palsy caused by neurological disease, but also a large proportion of traumatic VFP recovered. CONCLUSION: In a large patient population from Funen we found that trauma was the most common cause of VFP. Malignancy also frequently caused VFP. The outcome depended on the etiology. This is important when informing patients.

[Vocal fold palsy--investigation and follow-up]. / Stemmebåndsparese--udredning og opfølgning.

INTRODUCTION: A new protocol for investigation of vocal fold palsy (VFP) was introduced in the ENT-department, Odense University Hospital on 1 January 2002. The protocol included ultrasonography (US) of the neck, x-ray of the chest and clinical examination at 3-month intervals for 1 year as well as MRI scanning of the brainstem, neck and mediastinum initially and after 6 months (or CT scanning under special circumstances). We have evaluated our protocol for investigation and in particular with regard to efficiency of diagnostic methods and the effect of long-term follow-up. MATERIAL AND METHODS: From 1 January 2002 to 30 June 2002 we investigated 48 patients with VFP of occult origin in our department. We reviewed medical records and registered and analyzed data regarding efficiency of diagnostic methods and the effect of follow-up. RESULTS: Ten out of 48 VFP (21%) proved to be caused by malignancy. Eight VFP had other causes and 30 were idiopathic. Nine out of ten malignant diseases were found during initial investigation. One patient was diagnosed with breast cancer and widespread metastases 10 months after initial investigation. CONCLUSION: An extensive protocol for investigation of VFP is indicated. In our opinion, a protocol should include US, CT or MRI scanning of brainstem, neck and mediastinum. Our material is too limited to draw any final conclusions concerning long-term follow-up.