A Case of Nonrecurrent Inferior Laryngeal Nerve

비반회후두신경 치험 1례

Nonrecurrence of the inferior laryngeal nerve always results from a vascular anomaly during embryonic development of the aortic arches. The nonrecurrent inferior laryngeal nerve is important clinically for two reasons, it is vulnerable during thyroid surgery and it is associated with difficulty in swallowing. It can be suspected preoperatively from signs associated with the vascular anomaly : dysphagea, thoracic x-ray images showing evidence of retroesophageal subclavian artery, or situs inversus viscerum. If such signs are noted, a barium swallow test and chest computed tomography are justified. We experienced a case of Rt. nonrecurrent inferior laryngeal nerve, which is diagnosed thyroid papillary carcinoma.