The involvement of vocal cords in rheumatoid arthritis: a clinical case.

Rheumatoid arthritis rarely involves the cricoarytenoid joint, symptoms of varying severity ranging from foreign body sensation, fullness or tension in the throat, hoarseness, odynophagia, speech or cough pain to stridor and respiratory distress during bilateral paralysis of the vocal cords. We are reporting a case of rheumatoid arthritis with bilateral involvement of the vocal cords. The diagnosis was clinically made and confirmed by endolaryngoscopy, responding to antirheumatic treatment but coming to the stage of permanent tracheotomy.