[Limitations in diagnosing laryngeal lesions by physical inspection as against achieving diagnoses histologically]

In diagnosing a lesion in the ENT area, an inspection that includes a physical examination and palpation is important. For a laryngeal lesion, however, the physical examination inspection becomes especially important, since palpation cannot be done. In most instance, the macroscopic diagnosis corresponds well with the findings uncovered by the histological diagnosis. However, we have found that a histological examination is crucial in diagnosing cases of a "White-pathy" lesion in the larynx, to confirm if the lesion is a so-called leukoplakia, a pre-cancerous manifestation, or an early cancer.