Article Text
Summary
A 59-year-old man underwent external medialisation thyroplasty for his left unilateral vocal cord paralysis (UVCP) secondary to recent thoracic surgery. The patient had undergone bilateral lung transplant for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and was referred to the ear, nose and throat surgical team with new-onset voice hoarseness. Examination confirmed left UVCP, and after failing conservative management a decision was made to perform external medialisation thyroplasty. Following an uneventful procedure, the patient’s phonation returned to normal, and remarkably on spirometry there was evidence of significant improvement in lung function. Despite case series demonstrating subjective improvement in respiration, this is the first documented case, to our knowledge, of significant improvement in spirometry following this procedure.
- ear, nose and throat/otolaryngology
- lung function
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Footnotes
Contributors RW was the supervising consultant for the case report. TH wrote the report with support from RW. Both authors read and approved the final case report.
Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.
Competing interests None declared.
Patient consent Obtained.
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.