CLINICAL-CAUSES OF RECURRENT LARYNGEAL NERVE PALSY

SUMMARY

Causes dysphonia:
1. Surgical iatrogenic injuries - ACDF, thyroid, thoracic or carotid surgery.
2. Malignant invasion of the vagus or recurrent laryngeal nerve - skull base tumors, thyroid CA, lung CA, esophageal CA, and metastases to the mediastinum (often observed with lung cancer primaries).
3. Primary mediastinal tumor - thymoma.
4. Thoracic aortic aneurysm.
5. Blunt trauma to the neck or chest.
6. Idiopathic - viral or inflammatory process.

Reference(s)

Wilkinson, I., Furmedge, D. and Sinharay, R. (2017). Oxford handbook of clinical medicine. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Get it on Amazon.
Feather, A., Randall, D. and Waterhouse, M. (2020). Kumar And Clark’s Clinical Medicine. 10th ed. S.L.: Elsevier Health Sciences. Get it on Amazon.
Hannaman, R. A., Bullock, L., Hatchell, C. A., & Yoffe, M. (2016). Internal medicine review core curriculum, 2017-2018. CO Springs, CO: MedStudy.
Therapeutic Guidelines. Melbourne: Therapeutic Guidelines Limited. https://www.tg.org.au [Accessed 2021].