Tuberc Respir Dis.  1996 Jun;43(3):449-454. 10.4046/trd.1996.43.3.449.

A Case of Functional Upper Airway Obstruction Due To Vocal Cord Dysfunction

• Suh JK
• Lee SY
• Lee SH
• Park SM
• Cho JY
• Shim JJ
• In KH
• Kang KH
• Yoo SH

• KMID: 2043525
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4046/trd.1996.43.3.449

Abstract

Functional upper airway obstruction due to vocal cord dysfunction is being increasingly recognized and has been variously described as "Munchausen's stridor", "Emotional laryngeal wheezing", "Nervous asthma". It's features are symptoms of acute reversible recurrent dyspnea associated with an inspiratory stridor, normal anatomy of the upper airway, demonstration of variable severe exthrathoracic upper airways obstruction with pathologic adduction of the vocal cord at bronchoscopy. The patients with this condition are frequently misdiagnosed as asthma and the diagnosis is often delayed. So they can present a serious medical problem and are exposed to the complication of treatment and investigation. We report a case of functional upper airway obstruction due to vocal cord dysfunction who showed paradoxical vocal cord motion at bronchoscopy and typical features of variable exthrathoracic obstruction on Flow-volume loop during a symptomatic period.

Keyword

Functional upper airway obstruction; Vocal cord dysfunction

MeSH Terms

Airway Obstruction*
Asthma
Bronchoscopy
Diagnosis
Dyspnea
Humans
Respiratory Sounds
Vocal Cord Dysfunction*
Vocal Cords*