["Bamboo nodes": a clinical study of 19 cases]

This is an account of 19 cases undergoing surgery for submucosal deposits on the cords of a particular type, 8 of the 19 cases having an auto-immune disorder. The nineteen patients were operated and followed up between December 1986 and December 2001, the main symptom being dysphonia. Stroboscopy demonstrated a yellowish appearance, often transverse, of the middle third of the cord, giving the characteristic appearance of a bamboo node. Suspension microlayngoscopy was performed in all cases. Cordotomy was invariably required. Examination of the case notes of these patients has shown either a pre-existing auto-immune disorder or the development of suggestive pointers in 8 of these female patients. Histological examination necessarily demonstrates the common characteristics of these deposits, and may be able to show features which have predictive value in the absence of known auto-immune pathology.