Laryngopyocoele with contralateral laryngocoele: a rare cause of respiratory distress

Pyolaryngocele: Case report

INTRODUCTION AND IMPORTANCE

Pyolaryngocele is a very rare and serious complication of laryngocoele. The clinical presentation can be extremely severe acute epiglottitis with laryngeal dyspnea and major dysphagia. The treatment of choice is surgical excision. Our aim is to attract the intention of the surgeon to this unusual entity and describe its clinical features.

CASE PRESENTATION

We report a case of a 70-year-old male patient with a five-day history of left neck swelling, sore throat, and low-grade fever. An urgent CT scan showed a mixed pyolaryngocele. The management consisted of high-dose antibiotics and excision of the residual laryngocoele via an external approach.

CLINICAL DISCUSSION

A pyolaryngocele is an unusual complication of laryngocoele that becomes secondarily infected causing serious symptoms. The management consists of administrating broad-spectrum antibiotics and aspiration of purulent material to decompress the sac. At a later stage, after relieving the acute symptoms we performed an external approach with formal excision of the laryngocele.

CONCLUSION

Pyolaryngocele is a rare complication of laryngocele and can present with serious complaints like dyspnea and sepsis. Excision of the laryngocoele is still the best treatment option to prevent this complication and recurrence.

Laryngocele: Report of two rare cases and review of the literature

Laryngocele is a rare clinical condition characterized by an abnormal dilation of the laryngeal saccule. The present study focused on two separate cases of diagnosed patients. The first patient suffered from internal laryngocele and complained of hoarseness for almost 1 year. Plasma was used to treat the internal laryngocele and the outcomes were satisfying. The patient did not undergo any tracheostomy due to previous endoscopic surgery. The second patient included in the present study was diagnosed with mixed laryngocele and complained of swelling on the left side of the upper aspect of the neck with considerable pain for >1 month. The patient was prepped for excision by an external transcervical technique under general anesthesia. None of the two patients had any recurrence or other changes during follow-up. The purpose of reporting these two cases of laryngocele was to increase awareness of this condition. Surgery is still the first-line treatment for diagnosed cases, but with the advent of new microscopic techniques, the use of plasma in an inter-pharynx setting has become more common. The results observed after using plasma to treat one internal laryngocele may be relevant to better understanding the application of this method and confirm that it may be a new suitable approach to treat this condition.

Left mixed laryngocele in absence of risk factors: A case report and review of literature

Laryngocele is an uncommon benign cystic dilatation of the laryngeal saccule that communicates with the laryngeal lumen and contains air. On the basis of its localization, it can be traditionally classified in internal, external, or mixed. Usually unilateral and rarely bilateral, it may be congenital or acquired. It most often appears later in life without important symptoms except for cervical swelling. Here, together with a review of literature, we report the case of a 72-year-old man, smoker but without other specific risk factors, who presented laryngeal dyspnea for about one year. Neck CT scan performed during a previous hospitalization for respiratory failure revealed a left mixed laryngocele that was later surgically removed with cervicotomic access. The patient was discharged after one week. One month after surgery, we confirmed the absence of disease with video laryngoscopy.

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Laryngocele is a rare benign cystic dilatation of laryngeal saccule.

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Conditions increasing intraluminal laryngeal pressure are the main risk factors.

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The diagnosis of laryngocele is essentially clinic, based on symptoms.

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In some cases it can present with acute respiratory failure as pulmonary pathology.

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Treatment is surgical excision, microlaryngoscopic, external or combined.

Laryngopyocele in a case of bilateral mixed laryngocele: an impending airway emergency

Laryngopyocele is a rare complication involving the laryngocele which can present with acute airway compromise. A 31-year-old man presented with acute onset respiratory distress and dysphagia. He had swelling on either side of upper aspect of the neck with tenderness on left side. Videolaryngoscopy using 70° rigid Hopkins rod telescope showed a swelling in the left pyriform sinus pushing the ipsilateral vocal cord. However, glottic space was adequate. Contract-enhanced CT scan of the neck confirmed left-sided mixed laryngopyocele with contralateral mixed laryngocele. Patient underwent excision of both the lesions in a single stage by transcervical approach. Laryngopyocele in a case of bilateral mixed laryngocele presenting as an impending airway emergency has not been reported in literature. The diagnostic and therapeutic challenges are discussed here along with review of literature.