Mixed laryngocoele: A rare cause for acute airway obstruction

Abstract

Laryngocoele is a rare benign dialatation of laryngeal mucosa that may extend internally into the airway or externally through the thyrohyoid membrane. A 50 year male presented with painless swelling in upper neck since 2 years with chronic cough and hoarseness of voice since 1 year and acute onset breathlessness since 3 days. On examination, there was a diffuse, non-tender, cystic swelling in the anterior triangle of neck on left side, about 4X6 cms, compressible and increased in size of coughing and valsalva manoeuvre. X-Ray neck showed large air filled sac on left side of neck. CT scan revealed bilateral laryngocoele with both external and internal component on left side and only internal component on right side. Fibro-optic laryngoscopy revealed a normal study. Excision of the left laryngocoele was done. Post operative recovery of the patient was uneventful. Diagnosis of laryngocoele should be kept in mind in case of upper neck swellings. A review of literature has also been done on this topic.