Dual intracordal unilateral vocal fold cysts: a perplexing diagnostic and therapeutic challenge

A 52-year-old professional voice user, a director of international sales and marketing and sports coach, described a 40-year history of severe hoarseness, with recent progressive dysphonia. He could not be heard on a cell phone and was unable to raise the volume or intensity of his voice. Strobovideolaryngoscopy revealed a perplexing set of dual intracordal lesions in the left vocal fold and a posterior glottal gap. The amplitude and magnitude of the left vocal fold mucosal waves were barely perceptible and were severely decreased in the right. There was marked phase asymmetry and aperiodicity bilaterally. A computed tomography scan of the neck with contrast and multiplanar reformatted reconstructions and a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the neck with and without contrast revealed the nodular appearing masses of the left vocal fold without any definite evidence of paraglottic or supraglottic extension and no cervical lymphadenopathy. He had a hyperfunctional larynx with laryngopharyngeal reflux and chronic reflux laryngitis. Voice restoration required antireflux therapy, voice therapy, and phonomicrosurgical excision of the lesions. One benign epidermoid malformation cyst was lined by squamous epithelium. The second was a retention cyst lined with cuboidal epithelium. Finally, after 40 years, he has a normal voice.