Summary
Objectives
Laryngeal rhabdomyomas are extremely rare, benign striated muscle tumors that have
been documented only ∼50 times in the literature. They can be subdivided into two
types: fetal and adult types, with the adult type being more common. Common presenting
symptoms include hoarseness or progressive dysphagia. Diagnosis is made via immunohistochemical
and microscopic analysis. Management is typically surgical, most commonly endoscopic,
or open resection.
Methods
A comprehensive literature review was conducted with PubMed's MEDLINE index using
the following search string: “rhabdomyoma” AND (”larynx” OR “laryngeal” OR “head”
OR “neck”). After exclusion criteria were applied, a total of 58 cases were included.
The purpose of our literature review was to elucidate information about age/gender,
location, size, chief complaint and duration, treatment, and recurrence from each
of the 58 cases to identify trends that could guide future diagnosis and management.
Results
The average age at diagnosis of laryngeal rhabdomyoma was 52.6 years with a 2.22:1
male predominance. Hoarseness and/or dysphonia was the most common chief complaint
(42/58 cases, 72%), followed by dysphagia (12/58 cases, 21%). Common treatment options
included endoscopic excision (18/48 cases, 37.5%) or open surgical resection (10/48
cases, 21%). Tumor recurrence was reported in 5/40 cases (14%), most likely due to
incomplete removal of the tumor.
Conclusions
Although laryngeal rhabdomyomas are rare, they should be considered in the differential
diagnosis for patients with a submucosal laryngeal mass. Curative treatment is surgical
via endoscopic resection. It is the preferred technique because of decreased morbidity
compared to open resection. However, endoscopic resection was shown to have both higher
rates of recurrence and shorter time to recurrence compared to open resection, necessitating
frequent postoperative surveillance.
Key words
Abbreviations:
RM (Rhabdomyoma(s))To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: August 16, 2022
Accepted:
July 18,
2022
Publication stage
In Press Corrected ProofIdentification
Copyright
© 2022 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
