Leiomyomas of the larynx.

In a now 65 years old male patient a monochorditis of the left vocal cord was clinically observed over several years. Multiple exploratory excisions finally demonstrated a leiomyoma with atypically growing histological structures. The complaints of the patient permanently increased, and a hazel-nut-sized leiomyoma with atypically growing tissue structures, originating in the left vocal cord, was removed by laryngectomy. The exploratory specimen, which was diagnosed in our laboratory as proliferative pseudosarcomatous tissue 11 months before manifestation of the leiomyoma with atypical structures, is compared with analogous findings reported by Lane (1957) and Sherwin et al. (1963). Our observations, completing the results of these publications, allow the conclusion that pseudosarcomatous tissue structures do not only occur in the surroundings of carcinomas but also in the immediate neighbourhood of mesenchymal tumours. Choice of the adequate site for exploratory excision is decisive for correct histological diagnosis. A comparison with the literature concerned shows that leiomyomas and leiomyosarcomas rarely occur in the laryngeal region.