2002 Volume 14 Issue 2 Pages 128-136
A case of a 61 year-old male with a saccular cyst is reported. In the course of treating his laryngeal cancer (T1N0M0), the saccular cyst manifested itself after CO 2 laser vestibulectomy, named by Kashima, preceding laryngomicrosurgery with CO 2 laser cordectomy.
Although the shapes of both the vocal and vestibular folds were restored normally up to 3.5 months after the surgery, the shape and the size of the vestibular fold increased in size after 4.5 months, and further continued to enlarge even after 6 months.
The post-operative retention cyst was diagnosed radiologically via the findings of laryngeal MRI scans that included contrast-enhanced Ti-weighted imagery showing low-signal-intensity without enhancement, along with T 2-weighted imagery showing high-signal-density.
The cyst was extracted by CO 2 laser-laryngomicrosurgery. It was covered with a thick wall of normal membrane and existed beneath the membrane of the vestibular fold. The cyst was comprised of a blue, transparent and gluey secretion.
Microscopic examination of the specimen revealed that the inner wall of the cyst was lined with columnar epithelium, namely, respiratory epithelium. The resulting diagnosis was retention cyst pathologically, and saccular cyst, classified by De Santo, clinically. Recurrence was not found 12 months after the extraction.
