Organ-Limited Laryngeal Amyloid Deposits: Clinical, Morphological, and Immunohistochemical Results of Five Cases

Abstract

Five cases of organ-limited laryngeal amyloid deposits with no evidence of systemic disease are reported in detail and classified immunohistochemically. In four of the five cases the amyloid reacted with anti-AΛ antibodies and in one case with anti-Aκ antibodies. Four of our five female patients had already passed the fifth decade of life. One was 11 years old. Hoarseness was the predominant symptom in four cases, in which we found amyloid deposits in the glottic area. Only one patient, with amyloid deposits in the aryepiglottic fold, complained of pain. The therapy of choice of idiopathic, localized, or organ-limited amyloid deposits without underlying disease may be local excision. In one of the cases reported in this paper, a laryngofissure was performed, and in another a partial laser resection was performed. No therapy was performed in three of our five cases. In the larynx, as in many other locations and only if possible, removal at intervals is more feasible than radical resection, because these amyloid tumors grow slowly.