Vocal cord palsy anatomical changes and a foreign body mimicking malignancy.

A 74-year-old woman presented with a history of prolonged dysphonia, a red flag symptom for laryngeal cancer. Flexible nasal endoscopy revealed a lesion which looked suspicious for malignancy and therefore she went onto have a microlaryngoscopy and an attempt at biopsy. It was during this procedure that a foreign body was removed whole from a dilated laryngeal ventricle. We believe that some subtle anatomical changes caused by a pre-existing unilateral vocal cord palsy contributed to the impaction of this foreign body. 2014 BMJ Publishing Group Ltd.