Psychogenic vocal cord dysfunction masquerading as asthma

The authors present a case of a depressed woman who had a long history of episodic respiratory distress that had been diagnosed as asthma. Psychiatric and otolaryngological evaluation revealed that the patient was suffering from paradoxical motion of the vocal cords (PMVC) which was associated temporally with psychological factors. The authors suggest that in some patients PMVC may be psychogenic and could be misdiagnosed as asthma. With early recognition of PMVC unnecessary respiratory treatment might be avoided and appropriate psychiatric assessment and treatment could be provided.