Laryngocele and Saccular Cysts

Abstract

The symptoms, endoscopic findings, treatment and results of 46 patients with laryngoceles and saccular cysts are presented. Thirty-four were adults; 12 were infants and children under three years of age. Twenty-two adults had anterior saccular cysts, nine had lateral saccular cysts; three had laryngoceles. Ten infants and children had saccular cysts; two had laryngoceles. A laryngocele is an abnormal dilatation of the saccule which communicates with the lumen of the larynx, fills with air but on occasion may be temporarily distended with mucus; laryngoceles may be congenital or acquired. A saccular cyst is a mucus-filled dilatation of the saccule which does not communicate with the laryngeal lumen; saccular cysts are classified as lateral or anterior. Laryngoceles and saccular cysts represent abnormalities of the laryngeal saccule; a developmental spectrum exists among the normal saccule, large saccule, laryngocele and saccular cyst. The treatment of saccular cysts in infants and children is primarily repeated aspiration. In adults, symptomatic laryngoceles and large lateral saccular cysts are treated by an external approach; endoscopic aspiration and unroofing of small lateral saccular cysts is sometimes adequate and is attempted first. Anterior saccular cysts are treated by endoscopic excision biopsy. Carcinoma of the larynx may be found in association with a laryngocele or saccular cyst and must be diligently searched for by biopsies in the region of the saccular orifice. A smooth mass involving the area of the false vocal cord and aryepiglottic fold cannot be assumed to be a lateral saccular cyst; biopsies of the ventricle and saccule and deep incisional biopsies of the mass are indicated to rule out a carcinoma originating in the ventricle or saccule.