[Histological and histochemical investigation of pathological laryngeal mucosa with papillomatosis in children and adults].

Papillomas of the larynx are the subject of numerous studies. They occur in two forms (multiple and singular). The authors presented the results of histological and histochemical investigations of larynx papillomas in 9 adults and 16 children. The studies comprised patients treated in the Clinic of Otolaryngology in Wrocław. Surgically removed lesions constituted the material for estimation. Peculiar attention was paid to the degree of differentiation of tumours under the microscope. The interdependence between intensification of reaction and degree of epithelhyperplasia and strict connection of intensification of reaction with quantity of dysplastic changes of epithelium were indicated by estimation of enzymatic reactions. Histological studies disclosed marked morphological differences between papillomas in children and adults. The correlation of reactions to lactic dehydrogenase and NADH2-tetrazole reductase can be treated as an expression of hyperplastic changes in the epithelium. What is more, the reaction to lactic dehydrogenase may be regarded as a metabolic index of malignancy.