GRANULAR CELL TUMOUR OF THE LARYNX – A CASE REPORT

Abstract

Granular cell tumours (GCTs) are benign tumours rarely found in the larynx even though they are common in the head and neck region. The laryngeal tumour may be asymptomatic but typically patients present with hoarseness of voice, stridor, haemoptysis and dysphagia. The lesion can mimic squamous cell thus deep biopsy must be taken with adjacent normal tissue to confirm this pathology. Immunohistochemical staining is also used. Complete surgical resection of this tumour is the treatment of choice. We present a 25year old woman with a laryngeal granular cell tumour involving the right vocal cord diagnosed after direct laryngoscopy and biopsy. She was treated by right cordectomy via a laryngofissure approach. We present the case due to the rarity of the laryngeal granular cell tumour and the need to highlight the importance of taking deep biopsies. If biopsies are superficial, an inexperienced pathologist would mistake it for well differentiated carcinoma.