A case of combined type of laryngocele in a 47-year-old Japanese male patient is reported. The patient presented with a painful swelling in the right submandibular area and hoarseness, and a tentative diagnosis of laryngopyocele was made. After the infection was controlled, laryngomicroscopic examination disclosed air bubbles escaped from the right ventricle following the external pressure of the submandibular mass. X-ray examination revealed an air-containing cyst in the submandibular area. The final diagnosis of combined type of laryngocele was established. The patient underwent the complete removal of the laryngocele via the external approach.
Laryngocele has not uncommonly been reported in the foreign literature but rare in the Japanese. Only 5 cases including the present case have been reported in Japan. To clarify the difference of the incidence of laryngocele between Japanese and other races, the measurement of 32 laryngeal appendices in 19 surgical specimens of total laryngectomized cases was performed. The results were compared with those reported by Broyles. There was, however, no evidence of shortening of the length of the appendix of the larynx in Japanese. The author concluded that there is no relationship between the low incidence of laryngocele among Japanese and the length of the appendices in the larynx.
