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Voice & Larynx Disorders

Browse links to the various categories of voice and larynx disorders featured in our multimedia encyclopedia.

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Benign Vocal Cord Vibratory Injuries

Common disorders that affect the voice are vibration-induced lesions, or injuries, of the surface layer of the vocal cords, called mucosa. This kind of injury usually happens when a person overuses or abuses his or her voice.

Mucosal edema or swelling

Nodule

Open epidermoid cyst

Polyp

· Hemorrhagic polyp

Polypoid degeneration (aka Reinke’s edema or smoker’s polyps)

Submucosal fibrosis

Other Benign Mucosal Lesions

These are benign lesions or conditions that occur in the larynx but, unlike vocal cord injuries, usually without correlation to voice use.

Anterior commissure microweb

Contact granuloma (also see granulation tissue)

Glottic web

Keratosis (seen as leukoplakia)

Laryngocele

Laryngopharynx acid reflux disease (LPRD)

Mucus retention cyst

Pachyderma

Post-radiation telangiectasia

Saccular cyst

Supraglottic cyst

Vallecular cyst

Inflammation (Laryngitis)

Laryngitis is a general term for inflammation of the larynx. There are different variants and causes.

Acid reflux

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)

Laryngopharynx acid reflux disease (LPRD)

Auto-immune laryngitis

Bacterial laryngitis

Candida laryngitis and pharyngitis

· Caused by candida albicans, a commensal organism

Croup

Cryptococcus neoformans

Laryngitis sicca

Post-surgical laryngitis

Radiation mucositis

Rheumatoid nodules of the vocal cords

Thyrohyoid syndrome

Ulcerative laryngitis

Viral laryngitis

Tumor

Benign and malignant tumors.

Malignant tumors

A tumor is considered malignant if it has the potential to invade or spread to other tissues.

Cancer

Carcinoma

· Carcinoma in situ (CIS)

· Verrucous carcinoma

Sarcoma

Benign tumors

A tumor is considered benign if it doesn’t pose the threat of invading or spreading to other tissues.

Amyloidosis

Chondroma

Recurrent respiratory papillomatosis

Caused by human papillomavirus (HPV)

Neurological Voice Disorders

Disorders of the nervous system (neurological) can affect the voice in different ways.

Essential voice tremor

Spasmodic dysphonia, a kind of focal dystonia of the larynx; also, laryngeal dystonia

· Abductor spasmodic dysphonia (also called intermittent whisper phonation)

· Adductor spasmodic dysphonia

· Atypical spasmodic dysphonia

Classic variant spasmodic dysphonia

Mixed AB-AD spasmodic dysphonia

Tonic variant spasmodic dysphonia

· SLAD-R

Palate paralysis

Paralyzed vocal cords

· Vocal cord paralysis, bilateral

· Vocal cord paralysis, unilateral

Superior laryngeal nerve (SLN) paralysis

Parkinson’s disease-related voice change

Pharyngeal paralysis

Vocal cord paresis

· LCA-only paresis

· TA-only paresis

· TA + LCA paresis

· PCA-only paresis

· IA-only paresis

Nonorganic & Functional Voice Disorders

Disorders that arise not from abnormality of the mechanism itself but instead from abnormal use of the mechanism.

Nonorganic

Nonorganic voice disorders arise not from abnormality of the mechanism itself but instead from abnormal use of the mechanism, most often for conscious or subconscious secondary gain.

Functional

Functional voice disorders arise not from abnormality of the mechanism itself but instead from abnormal use of the mechanism, affected by personality or deficit of vocal skill, without discernible secondary gain.

Disorder of vocal loudness perception

Muscular tension dysphonia (MTD)

Puberphonia

Vocal fry dysphonia

Vocal overdoer syndrome

Vocal self-rapport

Vocal underdoer syndrome

Vocal “vincibility” syndrome

Voice fatigue syndrome