Five cases of recurrent laryngeal nerve paralysis caused by benign thyroid diseases.

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Recurrent laryngeal nerve paralysis is sometimes caused by malignant tumors of the thyroid gland. On the other hand, it is rarely found in preoperative case of any benign thyroid enlargement. During the period from 1974 through 1985, 376 patients with recurrent laryngeal nerve paralysis were examined in our clinic. Among these patients, there were 5 cases in whom the paralysis was considered to be caused by benign thyroid diseases. They consisted of 2 cases of thyroid cysts and each case of thyroid adenoma, subacute thyroiditis and chronic thyroiditis. Two of them including the one with adenoma underwent partial thyroidectomy, and the other 3 were treated conservatively. The follow-up studies were done for all patients except one who was operated on because of thyroid cyst, and revealed that their paralyses of the vocal cord were completely recovered within 6 months after the initiation of therapy. The possible mechanisms of the laryngeal paralysis in the present cases were considered to be compression of the recurrent laryngeal nerve by thyroid cyst or adenoma, or spreading of inflammation to the nerve from thyroiditis. It is suggested that improvement of the vocal cord paralysis can be expected, if it is caused by the benign thyroid disease and properly treated. Such cases must be followed-up for long-term.
特定非営利活動法人日本気管食道科学会の論文