BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The posterior cricoarytenoid (PCA) muscle is one of the intrinsic muscles of the larynx innervated by the recurrent laryngeal nerve. As such, recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy should not only result in paralysis of the true vocal cord or thyroarytenoid muscle but also in a similar change in the PCA muscle. The ability of CT and MR imaging to depict denervation atrophy in th...

The recurrent laryngeal nerve is an often cited example of “unintelligent design” in biology, especially in the giraffe. The nerve appears early in embryonic development, before the pharyngeal and aortic arches are separated by the development of the neck. The recurrent course of the nerve from the brain, around the great vessels, to the larynx, is shared by all extant tetrapods. Therefore we m...

BACKGROUND Previous thyroid or parathyroid surgery induces scarring or distorts anatomy, and increases the risk of recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) injury for a reoperation. The benefit of intraoperative nerve monitoring (IONM) for re-exploration (a second nerve exploration) and reoperation has not been established. METHODS Two hundred and ten patients were given a thyroid or parathyroid reope...

Hitherto voice changes have been regarded as an infrequent complication of thyroidectomy and damage to the recurrent laryngeal nerve has been given as their major cause. Voice function was assessed in 325 patients after thyroidectomy. Permanent changes occurred in 35 (25%) after subtotal thyroidectomy and in 19 (11%) after lobectomy. The commonest cause of voice change appeared to be injury to ...

OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS Vocal fold motion asymmetry (VFMA) is often attributed to vocal fold paresis or an anatomical variant. Although laryngeal electromyography (LEMG) may be used to evaluate patients with vocal fold paresis, electrodiagnostic findings in VFMA have not been well defined. STUDY DESIGN Review of a case series METHODS Twenty-five symptomatic patients with VFMA were examined by...

This work is an acoustic investigation on some spectral and temporal characteristics of the speech of patients with recurrent paralyses, and also of patients without diagnosed paralyses but with alteration of their voice after thyroid surgery. Speech is evaluated during two tasks: producing sustained vowels and also a sequence of nonsense words. Consequences of surgery on the voice of patients ...

VOLUME 61 JANUARY 2007 NUMBER 1 ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTIONS The complications of thyroidectomy are MATERIALS AND METHODS hemorrhage, recurrent or superior laryngeal nerve palsy and hypocalcemia. Iatrogenic This is a prospective nonrandomized study lesions of external branch of superior conducted on 46 patients undergoing various laryngeal nerve (EBSLN) during types of thyroidectomies with ‘lateraliz...

We report an unusual case of bilateral recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy caused by gross oesophageal distension due to achalasia.