Replacement of the arytenoid following vertical hemilaryngectomy

A considerable body of literature advocates and defines treatment of vocal cord cancer with posterior extension by hemilaryngectomy. The present study was carried out to determine the feasibility of using a newly devised pedicle flap, composed of thyroid cartilage and inferior constrictor muscle, to replace the ablated arytenoid cartilage. Animal investigation revealed satisfactory viability of the pedicle flap in canines, and in humans, five patients with T2 glottic carcinoma demonstrated excellent postoperative deglutition and return of voice. The results of the study indicate that this surgical technique merits consideration for its use in minimizing protracted glottic incompetence following hemilaryngectomy. The thyroid cartilage-inferior constrictor muscle pedicle flap may also prove useful as partial cricoid replacement in selected cases of subglottic extension and in cricoid reconstruction following trauma.