Vocal cord dysfunction after cardiac surgery: an overlooked complication

Vocal cord dysfunction after cardiac surgery: an overlooked complication.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the complication of vocal cord dysfunction following open heart surgery and its short- and long-term effects. MATERIALS AND METHODS Five cases (1.9%) of vocal cord dysfunction which were diagnosed among 270 cases of adult open heart surgery performed at this centre between February 1993 and May 1995. RESULTS All five patients developed respiratory insufficiency followi...

Vocal Cord Dysfunction after an Inhalation Exposure

The manuscript embodies case material and the author’s extensive personal experience to address a perceived or actual airborne exposure when incorrectly judged as due to intrathoracic/lung damage when in reality the outcome is the more innocuous extrathoracic/upper airway’s vocal cord dysfunction (VCD). Because of the conviction of possible lung injury, the individual applies the fetal protecti...

Severe vocal cord dysfunction: an unusual complication of juvenile dermatomyositis.

Vocal cord dysfunction.

Vocal cord dysfunction involves inappropriate vocal cord motion that produces partial airway obstruction. Patients may present with respiratory distress that is often mistakenly diagnosed as asthma. Exercise, psychological conditions, airborne irritants, rhinosinusitis, gastroesophageal reflux disease, or use of certain medications may trigger vocal cord dysfunction. The differential diagnosis ...

[Cognitive dysfunction after cardiac surgery].

In spite of the progress in medicine post operative cognitive deficiency (POCD) remains an important clinical problem. Since the introduction of cardiac surgery there have been frequent reports of its adverse neurological outcomes. Recent technological advances have contributed to a lesser occurrence of clinically evident complications such as coma, stroke, epilepsy or blindness. This brought t...