UNLABELLED More than a century ago, Ortner described a case of cardiovocal syndrome wherein he attributed a case of left vocal fold immobility to compression of the recurrent laryngeal nerve by a dilated left atrium in a patient with mitral valve stenosis. Since then, the term Ortner's syndrome has come to encompass any nonmalignant, cardiac, intrathoracic process that results in embarrassment ...

A 71-year-old man presented with deteriorating renal function. Hoarseness of his voice had been noted about one year earlier. He had never experienced severe chest or back pain of a tearing nature. His medical history was significant for chronic renal failure secondary to diabetic nephropathy. Laryngoscopy showed left vocal cord palsy (Picture 1). A contrast-enhanced computed tomographic scan r...

Introduction: Cardiovocal syndrome, or hoarseness resulting from vocal fold paralysis secondary to cardiovascular pathology, is commonly referred to as Ortner’s syndrome. We present a brief overview of vocal fold paralysis, present an illustrative case of Ortner’s syndrome, and provide a review of the pertinent literature. Here we aim to broaden one’s differential for vocal fold paralysis, disc...