Bilateral Occult Mucosal Bridges of the True Vocal Folds

Summary 

A mucosal bridge of the true vocal fold is a rare, benign anatomical finding that can cause dysphonia. It has been described by some in the literature as “occult” as it is often not visibly evident on flexible nasopharyngolaryngoscopy or strobovideolaryngoscopy, but mistakenly diagnosed as a sulcus vocalis (Sataloff RT, Rosen C, Hawkshaw M. Occult mucosal bridge of the vocal fold. Ear Nose Throat J. 1997; 76(12):850).² Final diagnosis is usually not made until microscopic direct laryngoscopy is performed and palpation of the true vocal fold reveals the mucosal bridge (Tanaka S, Hirano M, Umeno H, Tanaka Y. Mucosal bridge of the vocal fold [Japanese].⁴ Nippon Jibiinkoka Gakkai Kaiho. 1991; 94(12):1853–1856). We describe a case of a 15-year-old boy complaining of long-standing hoarseness and found to have bilateral mucosal bridges of the true vocal folds. Previous reports cite cases of a unilateral mucosal bridge. We believe this is the first reported case of bilateral mucosal bridges.

Key Words: True vocal fold, Mucosal bridge, Sulcus vocalis, Epidermoid cyst, Dysphonia