[Laryngeal ultrasound studies: potential, prospects, limitations]

In the last years, laryngeal ultrasound has been finding increasingly wide application due to the growing availability of relevant up-to-date equipment, apparent technical simplicity and non-invasive character of the study. However, poor knowledge of the physical basis of this method coupled to ungrounded self-confidence of the operators and uncritical treatment of the obtained findings may lead to the overestimation of the diagnostic potential of this sonographic technique. This paper is focused on disadvantages of ultrasound examination of the larynx and associated acoustic artefacts that can be taken for true abnormal structures. Attempts at qualitative and quantitative interpretation of such images are fraught with wrong conclusions.