Abstract
A 74-year-old man suffering from hoarseness and a calcified mass in the thyroid cartilage is reported. He had undergone radiation therapy with radium needles (Finzi-Harmer operation) for glottic cancer 30 years prior to admittance at our clinic. In the summer of 1999, he experienced hoarseness, which led him to our ENT clinic. The mass in the anterior part of his left vocal cord was observed by fiberscope, and computed tomography revealed a high density mass at the thyroid cartilage. Biopsy with anterior neck incision was performed under suspicion of radiation induced malignancy. However, only necrotic tissue with calcification and fibrosis was revealed without malignancy or inflammation. Taking account of the patient's history and the pathological findings, the lesion was considered to be a local laryngeal necrosis induced by the radiation therapy with radium needles performed 30 years earlier.
