Glottic furrow (1 of 4)
Congenital furrows, on both vocal cords, in a 14-year-old with lifelong husky, air-wasting voice. Seen here at a distance, under standard light, with cords in breathing position. The margin of each cord, especially that of the left cord (right of photo), has a "flattened" appearance.

Glottic furrow (2 of 4)
As the cords come nearly to phonatory position, notice the pseudo-bowing, and persistence of flattening or even "farmer's field" furrow.

Glottic furrow (3 of 4)
Phonation, open phase of vibration, under strobe light, shows large amplitude (lateral or outward excursions) and, at each line of arrows, an "edge" of mucosa. This edge is seen because the mucosa of the broad expanse of the free margin is closely adherent and cannot oscillate.

Glottic furrow (4 of 4)
At this patient’s most closed phase of vibration, under strobe light. Note that the leading edge of non-adherent vocal cord mucosa (again indicated by arrows) has slid medially (compare with photo 3).

Glottic furrow / Leukoplakia / Acid reflux (1 of 4)
Panoramic view, standard light. Note general inflammatory appearance, left vocal cord leukoplakia, interarytenoid pachyderma. Some would call this a sulcus.

Glottic furrow / Leukoplakia / Acid reflux (2 of 4)
Furrow-like groove best seen on the left vocal cord (arrow). Beneath the arrow is the leukoplakia. Notice loss of fine surface vessels in this area.

Glottic furrow / Leukoplakia / Acid reflux (3 of 4)
Furrows seen bilaterally.

Glottic furrow / Leukoplakia / Acid reflux (4 of 4)
Strobe light, closed phase. Note the slight gap; this is often seen as a kind of pseudo-bowing with furrow.

Glottic furrow, showing adherent furrow muscoa (1 of 4)
Standard light showing partially abducted cords. Here, the furrow on the right cord (left of photo) is seen best.

Glottic furrow, showing adherent furrow muscoa (2 of 4)
Closer view, now showing the bilateral glottic furrows more clearly (indicated by the dotted lines).

Glottic furrow, showing adherent furrow muscoa (3 of 4)
Under strobe light, closed phase of vibration. Focus on the right cord (left of photo), and note that the dotted line shows medial oscillatory position of mobile mucosa. The small elevation indicated by the large dot is a reference for comparison with next photo.

Glottic furrow, showing adherent furrow muscoa (4 of 4)
Open phase of vibration. The mucosal wave is very far lateral on the upper surface of the vocal cord, indicated now by the curved dotted line. The small elevation has barely lateralized, consistent with the adherent stiff mucosa of the furrow itself.

Glottic furrow (1 of 4)
This man has performed intense popular music for many years, and has developed loss of strength and clarity of voice. Here, the tiny dots outline bilateral glottic furrows, where the epithelium is more closely adherent to the vocal ligament than it is elsewhere.

Strobe light (2 of 4)
This view under strobe light shows the right-sided furrow enclosed by tiny dots.

High pitch (3 of 4)
At very high pitch under strobe light, vocal cord margins match well; the cause of this man's hoarseness is not a typical vibratory injury such as nodules or a polyp.

Thinning of Reinke's space (4 of 4)
Open phase of vibration, with only the lateral edge of the furrows marked with a dotted line. Part of the stretchy "cushion" of Reinke's space is lost and with it the mechanical de-coupling of mucosa from vocal ligament beneath.

Intubation injury + glottic furrows (1 of 4)
Extremely poor voice in elderly man after severe, life-threatening illness with complications; including an 18-day endotracheal intubation for purposes of ventilation. Now he is being evaluated for his very poor voice. Here, open (breathing) position at a distance does not show the findings as clearly as in subsequent photos. Small X's are for reference with remaining photos. The arrows denote tip of vocal processes.

Bilateral glottic furrows (2 of 4)
At closer range, divots begin to be appreciated (above the X's) and bilateral glottic furrows are more clearly noted.

Intubation injury (3 of 4)
As the vocal cords begin to close, this view (deep into the posterior commissure) shows clearly the divots caused by pressure necrosis outline where the breathing tube sat. Dotted lines show what would be the normal line of posterior vocal cords.

Phonatory position (4 of 4)
Now in closed voice-making position, posterior defect is out of view, but the vocal processes remain visible and come into contact at arrows. This shows that the endotracheal tube injuries are divots only without scarring of the joint capsules (that if present would prohibit contact of the vocal processes at arrows). There is air wasting through the posterior keyhole not visible here, and the bilateral glottic furrows and pseudo-bowing are extremely evident. They cause additional air-wasting, and adherence of mucosa at the depth of the furrows interferes with the mucosa’s vibratory ability.