Sleep apnoea of unusual origin.
A 72-year-old man presented with a history of progressive sleep apnoea. The cause was a large superior laryngeal nerve schwannoma arising in the left parapharyngeal space. This had a ball-valve effect on the laryngeal inlet. Superior laryngeal nerve schwannomas are very rare. No documented case has presented with obstructive sleep apnoea before.
Walshe
Peter
P
Departments of Otolaryngology, and Pathology, Saint James Hospital, Dublin, Ireland. rgaffney@beaumont.ie
Smith
David
D
Coakeley
Darragh
D
Dunne
Barbra
B
Timon
Conrad
C
D000368:Aged; D003390:Cranial Nerve Neoplasms / Q000150:complications*; D006801:Humans; D007823:Laryngeal Nerves; D008297:Male; D009442:Neurilemmoma / Q000150:complications*; D012891:Sleep Apnea Syndromes / Q000209:etiology*