Etiological Spectrum of Hoarseness of Voice in Western Regional Hospital, Pokhara, Nepal

Background: Hoarseness of voice is a commonsymptom presentation in the Department of ENT.The etiology ranges from benign to malignantcauses. Video nasopharyngolaryngoscopy is aneffective method of evaluation of the laryngealpathologies. The aim of the study was to study thedifferent etiological factors of hoarseness of voicepresenting in the Department of ENT at WesternRegional Hospital, Pokhara. Materials and Methods: A retrospectiveobservational longitudinal study was done in theDepartment of ENT, Western Regional Hospitalafter approval from IRC, Pokhara Academy ofHealth Science. A total of 275 patients presentingto the ENT Department with hoarseness of morethan two weeks duration were examined with videonasopharyngolaryngoscopy (NPL) from April 2018to March 2019. The data were electronically enteredand analyzed with SPSS Version 21. Results: Total number of cases were 275 amongwhich 187 (68%) were females whereas 88 (32%)were males. Vocal cord nodules were observed in107 patients (38.9%), features of laryngopharyngealreflux were observed in 54 patients (19.6%)muscle tension dysphonia was seen in 49 (17.8 %), vocal cord polyp in 6 patients (2.2%), left vocalcord palsy in 7 patients ( 2.5%), right sided vocalcord palsy in 2 patients (0.7%). The hemorrhagicpolyp, leucoplakia and ventricular dysphonia wereobserved in 3 patients each. Conclusion: Since causes of hoarseness of voicerange from simple benign diseases to malignantdiseases, it is mandatory to evaluate every casesof hoarseness of voice replace with of more than2 weeks duration with history, videolaryngoscopicexamination and investigations.