Laryngeal pathologies observed in microlaryngoscopy.

A retrospective analysis of 738 consecutive microlaryngoscopic procedures, performed in 655 patients at the Geneva Clinic of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery between 1981 and 1987, was undertaken. The 4 most frequent laryngeal pathologies were polyps, hyperplastic chronic laryngitis, Reinke's edema and laryngeal cancer accounting for 76.6% of all encountered pathologies. Of the sample studied, pathologies occurred more frequently in males than in females; however, certain pathologies were more common to one sex than to the other. In 15.3% of patients with benign lesions, multiple, coexisting laryngeal diseases were detected. In some instances, microlaryngoscopic and histological diagnoses were discordant.