CLINICAL CASES   

Otorinolaringologia 2003 March;53(1):27-31

Copyright © 2009 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: Italian

Hystopathological, clinical and therapeutic aspects of amyloidosis. Two cases with pharyngo-laryngeal localization

Serra A., Cocuzza S., Arcidiacono A., Federico C., Albanese P. G., Trovato S., La Mantia I.

Dipartimento di Otorinolaringoiatria Università di Catania, Catania

Amy­loi­dosis, a ­rare ­pathology, rep­re­sents ­about 1% of ­benign laryn­geal ­tumours. ­Within the ­upper aero­di­ges­tive ­tract, the ­larynx ­would, how­ever, ­appear to be the ­most ­involved ­organ. The con­di­tion ­affects ­males ­more fre­quently ­than ­females, par­tic­u­larly ­between the IV and VI ­decades of ­life. Not­with­standing the com­plex, het­er­o­ge­neous expres­sion of the var­ious clin­ical pic­tures, amy­loi­dosic ­lesions all ­share the extra­cel­lular ­deposit of ­fibrillar pro­teins ­which ­emit ­green biri­fran­gence in the pola­rised ­light micro­sope, ­after ­staining ­with ­congo red. The clin­ical ­cases pre­sented sug­gest con­sid­er­a­tion in rela­tion to the ­systemic clas­sifi­ca­tion of the ­pathology and the impor­tance of ­close mul­ti­spe­cia­listic coop­er­a­tion, as ­well as treat­ment ­with CO2 ­laser and the ­need for con­stant, atten­tive ­long-­term mon­i­toring.