Laryngoscope. 2026 Jan 21. doi: 10.1002/lary.70389. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To describe the prevalence and morphology of vocal fold contralateral reactive lesions in patients with vocal fold polyps or cysts, and to report disease regression following office-based laryngeal surgery (OBLS).
METHODS: Medical records and video recordings of patients with vocal fold polyps or cysts who underwent OBLS between November 2023 and September 2025 were reviewed. Demographic data included age, gender, history of smoking, history of reflux disease, type of vocal fold pathology, and type of office-based laryngeal procedure. Prevalence, morphology, and disease regression of CRLs were assessed by two otolaryngologists who independently reviewed the video recordings of patients included in this study.
RESULTS: Twenty-six males and 19 females were included in the study. The mean age was 48.9 ± 14.9 years. The prevalence of CRLs was 60%. Most of these lesions were fibrous. Eighteen lesions were treated with ILSI, and 8 lesions were treated with the blue laser and steroid injection. Five patients were lost to follow-up. Analysis of 21 CRLs showed complete disease regression in 52.4% of cases, and partial disease regression in 47.6% of cases. There was no statistically significant difference in disease regression between the two treatment subgroups (p = 0.284). There was a statistically significant difference in total disease regression of the primary lesion between those who had partial vs. complete disease regression of their CRL (p < 0.001).
CONCLUSION: CRLs are common in patients with vocal fold polyps and cysts. All lesions regressed partially or completely following OBLS using the blue laser and/or steroid injection.
PMID:41562156 | DOI:10.1002/lary.70389
