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The Evolving Etiology of Bilateral Vocal Fold Immobility
Journal article   Peer reviewed

The Evolving Etiology of Bilateral Vocal Fold Immobility

John M Feehery, Edmund A Pribitkin, Ryan N Heffelfinger, Victor G Lacombe, Daniel Lee, Louis D Lowry, William M Keane and Robert T Sataloff
Journal of voice, v 17(1), pp 76-81
2003
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0892-1997(03)00030-4
PMID: 12705820
Featured in Collection :   UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel

Abstract

Diagnosis Etiology Vocal fold immobility
In the past, bilateral vocal fold immobility (BVFI) occurred most commonly after thyroidectomy. However, no large series documenting the etiology of adult BVFI has been published within the past fifteen years. This study reviews the etiologic patterns of BVFI at our institutions. We compare BVFI from before and after 1980. We also review combined studies of unilateral vocal fold immobility (UVFI) to compare and unilateral versus bilateral etiologic trends. In comparison with previously published series, fewer cases of BVFI present today as a complication of thyroid surgery and more as the result of malignancies and nonsurgical trauma. Unfortunately, BVFI caused by malignancy is not usually an initial sign of local disease, but an ominous sign of recurrence or metastases. In comparing UVFI and BVFI we found that thyroidectomy causes a higher percentage of BVFI than of UVFI. Over one-third of UVFI cases were caused by neoplasm which further underscores the potential seriousness of immobile vocal folds and the need for careful investigation.

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11 Record Views
36 citations in Web of Science
45 citations in Scopus

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UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This publication has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

#3 Good Health and Well-Being

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Web of Science research areas
Audiology & Speech-language Pathology
Otorhinolaryngology
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