Immobile vocal fold secondary to thyroid abscess: a case report

Vocal fold paralysis as a result of a thyroid abscess is extremely rare. In this article, we report only the second documented case of such a finding. The paralysis was discovered after our patient, a 40-year-old woman, had come to the office with a complaint of discomfort in the right lower neck. Computed tomography confirmed the presence of an abscess in the posterior thyroid gland. Fine-needle aspiration did not identify any inflammatory or suspicious cells. The abscess was treated with hemithyroidectomy, and the paralysis resolved 3 weeks later. There has been no recurrence after 4 years.