Functional outcome of supracricoid laryngectomy with cricohyoidoepiglot- topexy in the elderly

Background: Supracricoid laryngectomies (SL) were introduced to radically treat laryngeal tumors while respecting laryngeal function. Despite SL with cricohyoidoepiglottopexy (CHEP) allows good functional results in terms of swallowing, breathing function and voice quality, older age has been traditionally considered a contraindication to SL. Aim of this study is to investigate the functional outcomes of SL with CHEP among elderly patients (age older than 70 years) and compare them with those obtained in younger subjects submitted to CHEP for laryngeal cancer. Materials and methods: Thirty-eight (36M, 2F; mean age: 61.9 years, age range: 51-79 years) patients were submitted to SL with CHEP for laryngeal carcinoma between January 2012 and December 2015. Preoperative endoscopic and imaging assessment was carried out. The surgical treatment performed was CHEP with preservation of both arytenoids (CHEP+AA) in 10 (68.4%) cases and with preservation of one arytenoid (CHEP+A) in 28 (31.6%) patients. Basing on their age, our patients were divided into 2 groups: age<70 years (group 1) and age >70 years (group 2). Among the 26 subjects of group 1, 6 were submitted to CHEP+AA, while 20 to CHEP+A; among the 12 patients of group 2, 4 were treated with CHEP+AA, while 8 with CHEP+A. Functional assessment was performed as follows: (a) Swallowing assessment was carried out considering the days required to resume an oral diet