Tuberculosis of larynx revisited: a report on clinical characteristics in 10 cases

Tuberculosis is the most frequent granulomatous disease involving larynx. In most cases it is secondary to pulmonary tuberculosis. Incidence of tuberculosis is now on a rise due to increase in incidence of immune deficiency states. Here we present a report of clinical characteristic of laryngeal tuberculosis based on our experience of 10 cases. A detailed retrospective analysis of 10 patients of laryngeal tuberculosis was done at our tertiary care laryngology centre. Majority of patients had change of voice and dry cough. All the patients had hyperemia and edema of vocal cords. 80% patients had involvement of the arytenoids and ary-epiglottic folds. Frank granulomatous growth was seen in 70% of patients. In all patients histopathological report was consistent with tubercular granuloma. Two patients had associated pulmonary tuberculosis. Eight patients did not reveal any feature suggestive of previous or co-existent pulmonary tuberculosis. All patients responded to chemotherapy with complete resolution. Primary laryngeal tuberculosis is not as rare as generally considered. This series provides an insight towards clinical feature, growth pattern and management of tuberculosis of larynx.