Airflow resistance monitoring in laryngotracheal stenosis. Laser surgery in bilateral vocal cord paralysis.

Thirty-seven patients with laryngotracheal stenosis were treated within the last 3 years at the ENT Department of the Semmelweis University of Medicine in Budapest. Unilateral laser arytenoidectomy was performed in the group with pure vocal cord paralysis. Airflow resistance of the upper respiratory tract was measured with a modified Rhinotest MP 500 active anterior rhinomanometer through the tracheostomal orifice before and after the operation. The mean preoperative resistance was 0.951 Pa/cm3/s, which was reduced to 0.487 Pa/cm3/s postoperatively. In the successfully decannulated cases the postoperative resistance value averaged 0.360 Pa/cm3/s. The resistance limit (including nasal and pharyngeal resistances) seems to be 0.50 Pa/cm3/s.