Laboratory diagnosis of laryngeal disease

The most important method used in the laboratory diagnosis of laryngeal disease is histological examination of material removed at biopsy. Surgical and technical aspects of this procedure are discussed. A review of diagnoses made of laryngeal biopsies in a single year by the writer's laboratory is given together with a brief description of the pathology of the commonest non-malignant conditions. The handling of laryngectomy and block dissection specimens in the laboratory is described. The parts played by the cytology, bacteriology and virology laboratories in laryngeal diagnosis are briefly reviewed.