Laryngeal rheumatoid arthritis

Abstract

The classic sequence of pathologic changes associated with rheumatoid arthritis as they affect the cricothyroid and cricoarytenoid joints of five larynges is described. Although several previous reports have drawn attention to the presence of rheumatoid arthritis in the larynx, the current study emphasizes that the small joints of the larynx may be involved by the full spectrum of pathologic changes and that both cricothyroid and cricoarytenoid joints are equally prone to the various stages of inflammation, joint destruction and ankylosis that characterize the disease elsewhere. Rheumatoid nodules were seen in two cases and granulomatous areas surrounding cricothyroid joints were noted in two others.