Pulmonary oedema after airway obstruction due to bilateral vocal cord paralysis

We report a case of pulmonary oedema which developed after airway obstruction due to bilateral vocal cord paralysis. The patient was a 52-yr-old woman undergoing craniotomy for an acoustic neuroma. Anaesthesia was uneventful. Spontaneous ventilation resumed after reversal of neuromuscular blockade. Following extubation she showed signs of airway obstruction and dyspnoea. The trachea was reintubated but she became hypoxic, PaO2-36 mmHg, produced pink frothy secretions and the x-ray was typical of pulmonary oedema. The oedema cleared within 24 hr. Tracheostomy was performed one week later as the cords were still fixed, but the latter had recovered by three months and the tracheostomy was closed. The cause of the cord paralysis is unknown but probably was a result of surgical trauma to the brain stem.