Squamous papillomas of the larynx in adults. A review of 63 cases.

Sixty-three cases of squamous papillomas of the larynx occurring in adults are presented. Twelve cases started as juvenile papillomas and continued into adult life. Twice as many males as females were in the series. The papillomas were always present on the true vocal cords at presentation, although other parts of the larynx were involved to a variable extent. The symptom of hoarseness gave a good indication as to the state of the larynx during treatment. Malignancy did not develop in patients with papillomas which fulfilled the histological criteria. Papillomas are clusters of thin, cylindrical projections of squamous epithelial covered mucosa with second and even third order branching. Biopsies in 5 cases show papillomatosis of respiratory epithelium, a process which is here described in the larynx for the first time. The prognosis as regards recurrence for 20 patients with solitary lesions was good, for 38 patients with multiple lesions reasonable, but for 5 patients with extensive florid lesions was exceptionally poor.