Abstract
Objectives
To assess the investigation and clinical outcome of patients presenting with unexplained vocal cord palsy (VCP).
Study Design and Methods
A prospective cohort study designed to evaluate 86 patients with unexplained VCP presenting to our tertiary referral center.
Results
Twenty-four (36%) patients had positive findings on CT scanning. Twenty-one (24%) cases showed mediastinal adenopathy ± pulmonary mass. The other three cases were a thoracic aneurysm, prostatic metastasis below the skull base, and a post-cricoid tumor. Follow-up period was 18 to 66 months. Fifteen (24%) of the 62 patients with negative radiology recovered full vocal cord movement.
Conclusion
CT neck ± chest plays an important role in the evaluation of VCP patients. The majority of pertinent radiologic findings involve malignant neoplasm.
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