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Sclerosis of the arytenoid cartilage and glottic carcinoma: A clinical‐pathological study
Author(s) -
Lucioni Marco,
Lionello Marco,
Machin Piernicola,
Sovran Federica,
Canal Fabio,
Bertolin Andy,
Rizzotto Giuseppe
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
head and neck
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.012
H-Index - 127
eISSN - 1097-0347
pISSN - 1043-3074
DOI - 10.1002/hed.25372
Subject(s) - arytenoid cartilage , medicine , laryngectomy , cartilage , pathological , larynx , radiological weapon , carcinoma , clinical significance , endoscopy , cricoid cartilage , radiology , thyroid cartilage , pathology , surgery , anatomy
Background Given the relevance of any tumor invasion of the arytenoid cartilage or crico‐arytenoid unit to the planning open partial horizontal laryngectomy (OPHL) for laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC), it is important to have a reliable radiological test to assess impairments of these structures. Methods We retrospectively compared the endoscopic, radiological, and pathological findings in patients with glottic LSCC who underwent OPHL. Results The endoscopic finding of a reduced (impaired or absent) vocal cord motility proved more sensitive, with better positive and negative predictive values, but less specific than the radiological finding of complete arytenoid sclerosis in detecting histologically assessable infiltration of the arytenoid cartilage. Conclusions Endoscopy retains a key role in the preoperative workup for glottic LSCC. CT evidence of complete sclerosis of the arytenoid cartilage is related to a dangerous contiguity of the tumor to the cartilage.