Laryngeal zoster with unilateral laryngeal paralysis.

The case of a 60-year-old man with a unilateral laryngeal mucosal lesion and complete left vocal cord paralysis is reported. The lesion localized to the left side of the larynx covered the laryngeal vestibule, arytenoid, false vocal cord and true vocal cord, but did not extend to the hypopharynx or oropharynx. Enzyme immunoassay for varicella-zoster virus (VZV) led to a diagnosis of VZV infection.