title: Chronic voice hoarseness: when is it an emergency?
abstract: We report a 68-year-old man with chronic voice hoarseness, who presented to the emergency room with left-sided chest and hypochondrial pain. Chest radiograph showed a large mediastinal mass confirmed to be a thoracic aortic aneurysm by an emergent computed tomography scan. Examination and investigations of a patient with voice hoarseness and chest pain should focus on looking out for dissecting or leaking aneurysms, which may be catastrophic if missed.
authors.affiliation: Emergency Medicine Department, National University Hospital, Singapore. kuanwinsen@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Win Sen
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Kuan
authors.forename: Sock Koon
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Shirley Beng
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Suat Ooi
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001012:Aorta, Abdominal / Q000473:pathology*; D001013:Aorta, Thoracic / Q000473:pathology*; D001014:Aortic Aneurysm / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D002637:Chest Pain; D002908:Chronic Disease; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D006685:Hoarseness / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013577:Syndrome; D014826:Vocal Cord Paralysis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology