Cowden's disease with vocal fold involvement

• Published in: Ear, nose, & throat journal Vol. 80; no. 10; p. 754
• Main Authors: To, E W, Tsang, W M, Pak, M W, Cheng, J H, Tse, G M, van Hasselt, C A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01-10-2001
• Subjects: Diagnosis, Differential; Hamartoma Syndrome, Multiple - diagnosis; Humans; Laryngeal Diseases - pathology; Male; Middle Aged; Skin Neoplasms - diagnosis; Vocal Cords - pathology
• ISSN: 0145-5613
• DOI: 10.1177/014556130108001015

Cowden's disease is a hereditary disorder characterized by oropharyngeal fibrosis and multiple hamartomas with potential malignant changes. We treated a 47-year-old man who had fibrotic lesions on the left vocal fold and an extensive amount of papillomatous lesions on the mucosa of the lips, tongue, and pharyngeal wall and on the skin of the axillae and buttocks. The pattern of distribution and the histopathologic features of these mucocutaneous lesions were diagnostic of Cowden's disease. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported case of Cowden's disease involving a vocal fold.