Laryngolith.

OBJECTIVE

To report an extremely rare and interesting case of a woman who developed a laryngeal stone.

CASE REPORT: A 44-year-old woman was referred to our ENT clinic complaining of dyspnoea and stridor. She had been treated for chest problems for approximately 30 years. On examination, she had a large, spiky, subglottic lesion compromising the airway. A laryngeal computed tomography scan and histopathological and biochemical examination showed the lesion to be a calcium phosphate stone. Review of the literature from the past 50 years, using several search engines, revealed no similar cases.

CONCLUSION

To the author's knowledge, this is a unique case of a stone that developed in the subglottis. This rare entity was the cause of long-standing chest problems unresponsive to medical treatment. The patient recovered completely from all her symptoms after removal of the laryngolith.