Vocal Cord Cyst (Vocal Fold Cyst)

.

This are photographs of a left vocal cord cyst (seen on the right side of the pictures).  This was an interesting case in that the patient recently suffered a stroke, and her hoarseness seemed to come on around the same time as the stroke.  She had been referred for voice therapy at our Center, and given her irregular and diplophonic vocal quality the speech pathologist suspected that there may be a vocal fold lesion.

Videostroboscopy of the larynx revealed a mucoid cyst in the left vocal cord, impairing the vibration of the left vocal cord.  Treatment for this type of lesion is surgery, and the cyst is removed intact from the vocal cord while preserving the surrounding tissue.  Given her recent stroke, the patient decided not to have surgery but to live with her voice for now.

Cysts are benign growths, arising either from mucus glands or from trapped skin within the vocal cord.  They are not cancerous, although rarely cancerous lesions can take on a cystic appearance within the vocal cord.  The primary symptom of a cyst is hoarseness.