Reinke’s Edema
Reinke’s edema is a chronic inflammatory disease of the vocal fold, which present with swelling on both sides. Some people refer to this as polypoid corditis or chronic hypertrophic laryngitis. It is commonly seen in women with a history of smoking while reflux also plays a role.
Symptoms
Reinke’s edema of the vocal folds leads to alteration of the vibratory function of the vocal folds. Typical symptoms include:
Treatment
These type of vocal changes are irreversible and will not go away on their own. Initial treatment consists of aggressive management of laryngopharyngeal reflux. Smoking cessation is an important part of the treatment. For patients, who would like to improve their voice, removing the polyps can be the right choice. There are several methods to remove the polyps:
Reinke’s edema is a chronic inflammatory disease of the vocal fold, which present with swelling on both sides. Some people refer to this as polypoid corditis or chronic hypertrophic laryngitis. It is commonly seen in women with a history of smoking while reflux also plays a role.
Symptoms
Reinke’s edema of the vocal folds leads to alteration of the vibratory function of the vocal folds. Typical symptoms include:
- Lower than normal voice ("I sound like man")
- Harsh, gravelly voice
- Noisy breathing
- Breathing problems
Treatment
These type of vocal changes are irreversible and will not go away on their own. Initial treatment consists of aggressive management of laryngopharyngeal reflux. Smoking cessation is an important part of the treatment. For patients, who would like to improve their voice, removing the polyps can be the right choice. There are several methods to remove the polyps:
- In-office laser removal: This brief procedure is done under local anesthesia. Patients usually have very little to no discomfort during the procedure.
- Surgical resection of the vocal fold polyps under general anesthesia: For some patients, this is the better option. An excellent understanding of the vocal fold structure is required to perform the surgical procedure successfully and to avoid stripping of the vocal folds, which will lead to a non-desirable voice outcome.
BEFORE TREATMENT: Large and floppy vocal cord polyps (Reinke edema). This female patient sounded very low-pitched and she described her voice as "male like".
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AFTER TREATMENT: 8 weeks after this patient KTP-laser treatment of her polyps in the office.
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BEFORE TREATMENT: large polyps in a smoker.
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12 weeks AFTER SURGERY: the polyps were surgically removed under general anesthesia while leaving the normal vibratory layer intact. This patient had a normal voice.
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