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Wk 5, Case 4 - Review

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This was an example of a mass that's involving the per

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laryngeal space at the level of supraglottic larynx.

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The key finding here is that there's a mass involving the left per

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laryngeal space. Okay?

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And on some of the images right here, you can see it's low attenuation,

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and on this image it looks a little bit higher attenuation.

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So this actually turned out to be a laryn seal, but on the other hand,

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this could easily have been squamous cell carcinoma as well too.

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So if you said either lary seal or squamous cell carcinoma,

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I think either of those are fine on this particular image.

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I think if you do a hounds feel unit, you're gonna see its fluid collection.

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So regardless, in real world situations,

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if you see a mass that's involving the left perilaryngeal space,

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the classic finding is that it should be cystic. And if it's cystic,

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you could just go on and call it a lary seal. But on the other hand,

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if you see anything that's solid,

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then you often have to raise the possibility of a neoplasm. So,

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um, let me stop there and take any questions.

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And then what I'll do is I'll go ahead and bring up, um,

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my PowerPoint. So we'll talk a little bit about laryn seals.

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So the,

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the laryngeal ventricle is situated between the false vocal cord and the true

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vocal cord. So this is the normal laryngeal ventricle on the left hand side.

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And in this particular case, we can see that there's narrowing here,

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the laryngeal ventricle.

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And we can see this dilatation of the laryngeal ventricle that's

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extending laterally.

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So laryngeals can either be air-filled as we see here.

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And this is a nice example of a big dilatation of the laryngeal ventricle

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extending to the paralytic space.

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And if the laryn seal is isolated to the larynx,

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as in the case that I showed you for the case of the wheat,

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then that's referred to as an internal laryn seal.

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But if the laryn seal extends laterally through the thyrohyoid membrane

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and it extends into the soft tissue,

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then this is what's referred to as an external laryngeal.

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Or if it's in combine combination with an internal laryn seal,

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an internal versus plus external laryn seal is known as a complex lary seal.

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So it can either be due,

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it can either be air-filled or it can be fluid filled as is seen here.

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And this coronal images, again,

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nicely demonstrates this laryngeal extending through the thyrohyoid membrane.

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Now, laryn seals are,

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can be due to an increase in the intraluminal pressure,

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and it's typically been associated with trumpet players.

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This is a famous trumpet player named Dizzy Gillespie in the United States.

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You can see he's got these huge, uh, lary

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Seals and part of that is dilatation of his bator muscle, but also laryn seals,

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or it can be due to glass blowers because they have that increased intraluminal

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pressure.

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And that's what gives rise to the expansion of the

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laryngeal ventricle. But even more commonly, like really I should say,

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depending on where where you're located, is that,

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remember the etiology of the laryngeal can be due to an obstruction right here

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at the opening of the laryngeal ventricle.

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And this is oftentimes due to squamous cell carcinoma.

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So squamous cell carcinoma is the most common cause of an obstructive laryngeal.

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And if you ever do see a a laryn seal, you should look very,

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very closely at the level of the laryngeal ventricle to make sure that the cause

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of the laryn seal is not due to a squamous cell carcinoma.

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Now, laryn seals, uh, are typically have a, I should say,

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can have different imaging appearances.

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This is an example of a fluid fill laryn seal. This was another lary seal,

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and if it's chronic, it can end up having high attenuation,

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which is similar to what we just saw in the office hours,

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if or the case that I showed you. If the lary seal becomes infected,

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then you can develop a pile of lary seal in which the Lary seal basically acts

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as a, an abscess, if you will. So this is an example of a lary Ringo pase seal.

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Lemme just go ahead and talk about this too,

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since we had the thyroid gloss of ductus realize that the thyroid gland starts

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at the, uh,

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apex of the circum valley papilla at frame and cecum it then,

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uh,

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migrates inferiorly and has this complex relationship with the hyoid bone,

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and then eventually extends down to its normal resting place anterior to the

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trachea. So if you have, uh,

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remnants of the thyroid gland that contain fluid,

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that is a thyroid gloss of duct cyst.

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So you can have thyroid gloss of duct cyst here, located at the f and secum.

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In this case, you can have a multiloculated cyst,

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but notice how it's involving the left strap muscle.

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And here's an example of a ocular thyroid gloss duct cyst involving the medial

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portion of the left strap muscle.

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So on rare occasions, you can have actually have, uh,

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papillary thyroid cancer arising in a thyroid gloss duct cyst.

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It's a rare complication, only occurs around 1%,

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and the histology is usually papillary thyroid carcinoma,

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followed by either mixed papillary follicular or squamous cell carcinoma.

Report

Patient History
Hoarseness.

Findings
Contrast-enhanced CT was performed from the skull base to the thoracic inlet. The study demonstrates an approximately 1.5 cm low-attenuation lesion involving the left aryepiglottic fold which is predominantly low attenuation. The mass extends into the left paraglottic space and partially effaces the left piriform sinus. The superior aspect of the mass extends from the left aryepiglottic fold and extends into the lateral aspect of the pre-epiglottic space. Inferiorly, the mass extends to the left aryepiglottic fold and effaces the left laryngeal ventricle. No evidence of aggressive lesions are identified involving the true vocal cord. Bone algorithm shows no obvious evidence of cartilage erosion.

No evidence of enlarged lymph nodes are identified based on standard size criteria. Scattered vascular calcifications involving the base of the neck.

Visualized portion of the brain shows prominence of the sulci and ventricles. However, dedicated brain imaging is necessary for complete diagnostic evaluation.

Visualized portion of the lungs is grossly within normal limits. However, dedicated chest CT is necessary for complete diagnostic evaluation.

Conclusions
Approximately 1 cm predominantly low attenuation mass involving the left aryepiglottic fold with involvement of the left paraglottic space. These findings are consistent with fluid-filled internal laryngocele. These findings can also be seen in a submucosal neoplasm which could include squamous cell carcinoma or minor salivary gland tumor. The fact that the lesion is nonenhancing makes unusual lesions such as laryngeal paraganglioma less likely.

Case Discussion

Faculty

David M Yousem, MD, MBA

Professor of Radiology, Vice Chairman and Associate Dean

Johns Hopkins University

Suresh K Mukherji, MD, FACR, MBA

Clinical Professor, University of Illinois & Rutgers University. Faculty, Michigan State University. Director Head & Neck Radiology, ProScan Imaging

Tags

Neuroradiology

Head and Neck

CT