Laryngeal microweb and vocal nodules. Clinical study in a Brazilian population.

The etiology and pathogenesis of laryngeal microwebs are heterogeneous, and in most cases they are an incidental finding. It has also been suggested that microwebs could be a familial trait, representing a postblastogenic embryonic vestigial structure that might alter the biomechanical and vibratory properties of the vocal fold. Vocal nodules are small benign swellings along the margins of the vocal cords, with preferential location at the junction of the anterior and middle thirds, and usually resulting from mechanical trauma. The authors studied a sample of 107 patients with vocal nodules, looking for a possible correlation with microwebs due to the predicted involvement in the vibration of vocal cord margins. Glottic proportion, type of glottic closure, nodule location and the main complaints in patients with microwebs were compared with those in a sample of patients without microwebs. In the present study, microwebs were found in 9.4% of the patients, who showed much smaller glottic proportion than patients with micronodules only. Furthermore, vocal nodule location was not related to the presence and/or absence of laryngeal microwebs.