title: Vascular leiomyoma of the larynx: a rare entity. Three case reports and literature review.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  We conducted a review of the literature to investigate the clinical presentations and histopathologic findings of laryngeal vascular leiomyomas.
  
  
  METHODS
  We retrospectively analyzed 24 cases of vascular leiomyomas of the larynx.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Vascular leiomyoma of the larynx is a very uncommon tumor with only 24 cases reported in the literature. Of the 24 cases, the male/female ratio was 19/5. The patients were from 11 to 78 years old, and nearly half of the patients (11/24) were between the ages of 40 and 60. The tumor occurrence sites varied, with the supraglottic region being most common (14/24), followed by the glottic region (7/24) and the subglottic region (3/24). A common symptom of laryngeal leiomyoma is hoarseness of voice. The tumor is submucosal with dilated vessels on the surface. Histopathologically, the tumor cells are composed of numerous variform blood vessels lacking mitosis and well-differentiated smooth muscle bundles. Complete surgical excision is the most commonly recommended treatment.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Vascular leiomyoma is a benign tumor. External incision effectively prevents hemorrhage during the operation and recurrence after the operation. A smaller, well-circumscribed laryngeal vascular leiomyoma may be easily amenable to transoral laser resection. Preoperative embolization can be potentially used to benefit the laryngeal transoral resection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, PR China.
authors.forename: Yingying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Shuihong
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Shenqing
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D018229:Angiomyoma / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D001706:Biopsy; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007822:Laryngeal Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D007828:Laryngoscopy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged