Vocal cords dysfunction resulting from heterotopic ossification in a patient with burns.

Limitation of movement of vocal cords developed in a 38-year-old man after he received a 45% second- and third-degree burn with ossification about the cricoarytenoid joints, which indicated that the lesion had been caused by heterotropic ossification. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report in medical literature of heterotopic ossification as a mechanical cause of vocal cords dysfunction in the patient with critical burns. Diphosphonate (Didronel) treatment has improved the function of the vocal cords after 11 months of therapy.