Vocal Fold Paralysis—A Statistical Review of 458 Cases at TOKYO VOICE CENTER—

Abstract

We performed a clinical, statistical review of 458 cases of recurrent laryngeal nerve paralysis (RLNP) referred to TOKYO VOICE CENTER between January 2001 and December 2008. There were 229 males and 229 females. Their age range was from 4 to 90 years (average age : 54.6 years). The affected nerve was unilateral in 433 patients (right in 138 cases, left in 295) and bilateral in 25. The causes of paralysis were postoperative RLNP in 262 cases (57.2%), non-surgical in 196 (42.8%), ideopathic in 75 (16.4%), and combined nerve paralysis in 29 (6.3%) ; a natural recovery was seen in 28 causes (6.1%). In each cases, therapy started with voice therapy and was followed by an operation, according to each patient's will.