Congenital Hereditary Bilateral Abductor Vocal Cord Paralysis

Abstract

Congenital hereditary bilateral abductor vocal cord paralysis has been found in a father, his son and daughter. Though the disorder was previously believed to be inherited in a sex-linked manner, it now appears that there is an autosomal dominant variant. The vocal cord paralysis was associated with swallowing difficulty during infancy in all three of the family members. Although both the son and daughter required tracheostomies during the neonatal period, both manifested improvement of vocal cord movement during infancy so that decannulation was possible before 14 months of age. Localized delay in neurologic maturation is suspected as the etiology.