Head and neck paragangliomas: Update on laryngeal paraganglioma

Abstract

Introduction Head and Neck paragangliomas are mostly benign, slow growing tumours originating from sympathetic and parasympathetic ganglia, most frequently from carotid bodies, jugular, tympanic, vagal paraganglia and rarely from the larynx. This aimed to highlight the peculiarities of Laryngeal paragangliomas as per presentation, diagnosis and treatment.

Method Review of literature and published peer reviewed works in Medline and HINARI databases for articles in English language from 1970 to 2015 was done.

Results The diagnosis is primarily made on light microscopy and sometimes special staining might be required. It should be confirmed by immunohistochemical studies. The main stay of treatment is surgery. Primary radion theraphy with adjuvant chemotheraphy has been reported with variable success in other head and neck paragangliomas but has not been reported on the laryngeal paragangliomas with success.

Conclusion While surgery is still the goal standard in treating head and neck paragangliomas with very limited data on the role of radiotherapy. It is pertinent to consider the role and future of radiotherapy in the treatment of paraganglioma of the larynx.

Keywords: Paraganglioma, Larynx, Management, Surgery; Radiotherapy