Supracricoid laryngectomy with cricohyoidoepiglottopexy for advanced glottic cancer

Supracricoid laryngectomy with cri-cohyoidoepiglottopexy (CHEP) is a conservative surgical procedure indicated in selected cases of advanced glottic carcinoma.

This study is a review of our experience with 43 patients with T3/T4 glottic squamous cell carcinoma who underwent CHEP in our institution. All but two patients underwent selective neck dissections. All patients were staged on the basis of the 2002 TNM classification. Rates of recurrence and death were estimated by the Kaplan-Meier method.

The 5-year disease-specific survival and 5-year relapse-free survival rates were 78% and 83%, respectively. Neck metastases were found in three patients. Cartilage invasion occurred in 11 cases. The average length of hospital stay was 5.7 days. The mean time of enteral feeding tube was 33.8 days, and the mean time for tracheotomy was 29.6 days. Overall, normal swallowing was achieved in 74.4% of patients. Eleven patients had mild and major complications. Laryngeal stenosis emerged as the most frequent major complication. Three patients (6.9%) had local recurrences. Two patients (4.6%) had neck metastases.

On the basis of this study, over a 7-year period with 43 patients with advanced glottic cancer, a successful on-cologic outcome is confirmed.