The aetiology of laryngocoele

Dimensions and volumes of 200 hemilarynges were measured to establish the normal range of laryngeal air sac size in males and females. Large saccules reaching the upper border of the thyroid cartilage were unilateral in 23 and bilateral in 20. Saccular volume is significantly related to ventricular volume but not to age, sex or laryngeal size. Large bilateral saccules are common and, therefore, a likely underlying factor in laryngocoele. However, the unilaterality of the disease, its male predominance and its age distribution, suggest that local laryngeal pathologies are perhaps the determinant factor in the pathogenesis of the disease.