title: A case report of myasthenia gravis localized to the larynx.
abstract: This report describes a very rare case of myasthenia gravis (MG) localized to the larynx, with the onset of dyspnea requiring tracheotomy. The vocal cords of this patient were fixed in the paramedian position. Under fiberscopic observation, improvement of laryngeal function was demonstrated after intravenous injection of edrophonium. However, no voice change occurred. The posterior crico-arytenoid muscle has the sole responsibility of abducting the vocal cord; thus, it is concluded that the dyspnea was caused by the selective paralysis of this muscle. We suggest that MG should be considered in cases of vocal cord paralysis of unknown etiology.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, 54, Kawahara-Cho, Syogoin Sakyo-Ku, Kyoto 606-8507, Japan. kanemaru@ent.kuhp.kyoto-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Shin-Ichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kanemaru
authors.forename: Hideyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fukushima
authors.forename: Hisayoshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kojima
authors.forename: Ken-ichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kaneko
authors.forename: Masaru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yamashita
authors.forename: Juichi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ito
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000402:Airway Obstruction / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D004417:Dyspnea / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D004491:Edrophonium / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D007818:Laryngeal Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy; D007828:Laryngoscopy; D008297:Male; D009157:Myasthenia Gravis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy; D013018:Sound Spectrography; D014826:Vocal Cord Paralysis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology*
chemical_list: D004491:Edrophonium