A Case of Tracheotomy Necessitated for a Giant Polypoid Vocal Fold

Abstract

We report a 56-year-old female patient with dyspnea and a giant polypoid vocal fold. The polypoid moved to and fro from the larynx to trachea in synchrony with respiration, and was large enough to cause respiratory disturbance. The polypoid was diagnosed as type III in Yonekawa's classification of Reinke's edema. We secured an emergency airway by tracheotomy. There are very few reported cases of polypoid vocal fold necessitating tracheotomy. It may be appropriate to consider that the polypoid fell into the Rima glottides causing the patient to develop breathing difficulty.