CONSERVATIVE SURGERY FOR LARYNGEAL CARCIN OMA IN HUNGARY - HISTORICALREVIEW AND 25 YEARS OF PERSONAL-EXPERIENCE

The continuity in the trends in conservation and surgery in the Hungar ian laryngology are emphasized. The first Hungarian book on this topic , ''Diseases of the Larynx'' by Navratil, was published 127 years ago (''A gegebajok'', Pest, 1866). Onodi popularized the laryngectomy and the results of the surgery of laryngeal carcinoma in the first two dec ades. In 1900, Herczel described on a vertical partial laryngectomy. L enart was an internationally accepted Hungarian surgeon in laryngology whose results (cordectomy 61 %, partial laryngectomy 48 %, hemilaryng ectomy 42 %, total laryngectomy 35 %) were consistently successful. Re thi was a famous name in the recent period of Hungarian laryngeal surg ery for laryngotracheal stenosis and laryngeal carcinoma. In the past 25 years, the occurrence of supraglottic cancer was the highest. The a uthor reports his personal results and stresses the importance of cons ervation surgery. Of a total of 643 patients with supraglottic carcino ma, 126 (20 %) were treated by primary radiotherapy, 169 (26 %) were o perated on by total laryngectomy, 245 (38 %) by supraglottic laryngect omy, 61 (9,5 %) by supraglottic subtotal laryngectomy (personal method ) and 42 (6,5 %) by resection of the supraglottic larynx and the base of the tongue. Local tumour control was constantly good with a local r ecurrence rate of 6.6 %. The 5-year survival rate was 74.3 % for supra glottic laryngectomy, 68.9 % for subtotal laryngectomy and 62 % for th e resection of the supraglottic larynx and the base of the tongue grou p.