Laryngeal paraganglioma and pregnancy

Paraganglioma is an uncommon tumor of the larynx. We present a 30-year-old woman with a paraganglioma which took a heretofore not described clinical course. The first clinical sign was persistent hoarseness, when she was 26 weeks pregnant. A histological examination of a piece of the reddish, racemose tumor removed during microlaryngoscopy revealed only some slight nonspecific inflammatory changes. The patient remained free of symptoms following this operative procedure until 3 years later when she presented with a recurrence of hoarseness and a laryngeal tumor and was 25 weeks pregnant. Histology showed a laryngeal paraganglioma in the same supraglottic localization as before. Histological studies failed to confirm the obvious suspicion that the episodic growth of the paraganglioma may have been induced by estrogen or gestagen. To date, 6 years after the removal of the tumor, there has been no recurrence.