VOCAL CORD PARALYSIS - CLINICAL AND ELECTROPHYSIOLOGIC FEATURES

Vocal cord paralysis may occur in isolation or as part of a constellat ion of findings in neurological disease. We investigated the pathophys iology of these disorders with laryngeal electromyography (LEMG). We s tudied 44 patients with idiopathic vocal cord paralysis, confirmed by laryngoscopy. The major LEMG finding, present in 29 vocal cords, was e vidence of active or chronic denervation in the thyroarytenoid (TA), i ndicating recurrent laryngeal neuropathy. Denervation of the cricothyr oid (CT) in 5 patients indicated superior laryngeal neuropathy. TA and CT involvement in 1 patient indicated proximal laryngeal or vagus ner ve damage. LEMG was performed in 48 patients with other laryngeal diso rders. LEMG proved to be a safe and effective procedure in the diagnos is of laryngeal neuropathy as distinguished from supranuclear and mech anical disorders of the larynx. (C) 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.