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International Bulletin of Otorhinolaryngology

Cervical spondylophytes causing recurrent and phrenic nerve palsy

D. Pazardzhikliev

Abstract

Excessive cervical osteophystosis is reported to cause upper aerodigestive tract problems by simple pharyngeal compression, laryngeal oedema or recurrent nerve palsy. We describe a patient presenting with stridor and obstructive apnoea. On physical examination retropharyngeal bulging abutting the epiglottis was found, however endoscopic examination revealed unilateral vocal cord paralysis and hyperplasia of the arytenoid mucosa collapsing into the laryngeal airway on inspiration and contributing to the stridor phenomenon. On chest x-ray a paralysis of the contralateral diaphragm was found. This is an unusual cause of a multi-level obstruction and multiple nerve paralysis. Such concurrent findings have not been published.

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References

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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.14748/orl.v6i2.7051

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