title: CT evaluation of vocal cord paralysis due to thoracic diseases: a 10-year retrospective study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To discuss computed tomography (CT) evaluation of the etiology of vocal cord paralysis (VCP) due to thoracic diseases.
  
  
  METHODS
  From records from the past 10 years at our hospital, we retrospectively reviewed 115 cases of VCP that were evaluated with CT. Of these 115 cases, 36 patients (23 M, 13 F) had VCP due to a condition within the thoracic cavity. From these cases, we collected the following information: sex, age distribution, side of paralysis, symptom onset date, date of diagnosis, imaging, and primary disease. The etiology of VCP was determined using both historical information and diagnostic imaging. Imaging procedures included chest radiograph, CT of neck or chest, and esophagography or esophagoscopy.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Thirty-three of the 36 patients with thoracic disease had unilateral VCP (21 left, 12 right). Of the primary thoracic diseases, malignancy was the most common (19, 52.8%), with 18 of the 19 malignancies presenting with unilateral VCP. The detected malignant tumors in the chest consisted of thirteen lung cancers, three esophageal cancers, two metastatic tumors, and one mediastinal tumor. We also found other underlying etiologies of VCP, including one aortic arch aneurysm, five iatrogenic, six tuberculosis, one neurofibromatosis, three benign nodes, and one lung collapse. A chest radiograph failed to detect eight of the 19 primary malignancies detected on the CT. Nine patients with lung cancer developed VCP between follow-ups and four of them were diagnosed with a progression of malignancy upon CT evaluation of VCP.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  CT is helpful for the early detection of primary malignancy or progression of malignancy between follow-ups. Moreover, it can reveal various non-malignant causes of VCP.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Uijeongbu St. Mary's Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea College of Medicine, Uijeongbu, Korea.
authors.forename: Sun Wha
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Beom Cho
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Jun
authors.forename: Kwang Jae
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: Sungwon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Young Joo
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Seog Hee
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Park
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D012009:Recurrent Laryngeal Nerve / Q000473:pathology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013896:Thoracic Diseases / Q000150:complications*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D014397:Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / Q000150:complications; D014826:Vocal Cord Paralysis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000209:etiology*