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Aetiology

Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy

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To begin with higher lesions, recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy may be caused by:

  • bulbar palsy
  • pseudobulbar palsy
  • jugular foramen syndrome
  • deep lobe parotid tumours
  • vagal neurolemmoma

The causes of left recurrent nerve palsy in the chest include:

  • bronchial carcinoma
  • oesophageal carcinoma
  • malignancy of the mediastinal lymph nodes
  • aortic aneurysm
  • cardiac and oesophageal surgery

Recurrent laryngeal palsy of the left or the right nerve may occur in the neck because of:

  • thyroid surgery
  • thyroid carcinoma
  • oesophageal carcinoma
  • penetrating wounds
  • surgery on the cervical spine - Cloward's operation

Recurrent laryngeal palsy may also be idiopathic or may follow infection for example influenza.

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