Abstract
Chondronecrosis of the laryngeal cartilage following radiation therapy is a rare but serious complication.
We report herein a case of post-radiation chondronecrosis and discuss factors predisposing to its development.
A 67-year-old man received telecobalt therapy for cancer of the right vocal cord. A year after the radiation therapy given in a dose of 7, 000r, the patient developed dysphagia and dyspnea. Following tracheotomy, he underwent total laryngectomy. The surgical specimen showed no cancer but chondronecrosis of the cricoid cartilage was present. After laryngectomy he developed progressive soft tissue necrosis of the neck and died following a carotid hemorrhage.
