Neck ultrasonography for the evaluation of the etiology of adult unilateral vocal fold paralysis

Background An extralaryngeal neoplasm involving the vagus nerve and recurrent laryngeal nerve must be excluded when adult unilateral vocal fold paralysis is diagnosed. Methods Between 2004 and 2009, 53 adult patients with unilateral vocal fold paralysis received neck ultrasonography. Patients with laryngeal/hypopharyngeal cancer or with previously known cancers of the head and neck, thyroid, esophagus or lung, or with known etiology or trauma were excluded from this study. Results We included 26 men and 27 women. Ultrasonography revealed 16 patients (30%) having subclinical tumors, including thyroid papillary carcinoma in 7 patients, vagus nerve schwannoma in 2 patients, nodular goiter in 2 patients, malignant nodes in the lower neck in 4 patients, which were metastasized from lung cancer in 3 patients, esophageal cancer in 1 patient, and cervical esophageal cancer in 1 patient. Conclusion Neck ultrasonography is useful to detect subclinical neoplasia, causing unilateral vocal fold paralysis. Thyroid cancer is the most common neoplastic etiology of adult unilateral vocal fold paralysis. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck, 2012