Irritant-Associated Vocal Cord Dysfunction

TLDR

Vocal cord dysfunction (VCD) is a poorly understood entity that is often misdiagnosed as asthma. The study aimed to determine whether irritant‑exposed VCD (IVCD) cases differ from non‑exposed VCD controls. Eleven IVCD cases were identified through chart review of VCD patients with temporal exposure associations, and thirty‑three age‑matched VCD controls were selected. Compared with controls, IVCD patients differed in ethnicity and chest discomfort but not in gender, tobacco use, symptoms, or pulmonary function, and varied irritant exposures were linked to IVCD, indicating it should be considered in patients with post‑exposure respiratory symptoms.

Abstract

Vocal cord dysfunction (VCD) is a poorly understood entity that is often misdiagnosed as asthma. We report eleven cases of VCD in which there was a temporal association between VCD onset and occupational or environmental exposure. We conducted a case-control study to determine if the characteristics of irritant-exposed VCD (IVCD) cases differed from non-exposed VCD controls. Chart review of VCD patients at the authors' institution produced 11 cases that met IVCD case criteria. Thirty-three control VCD subjects were selected by age matching. There were statistical differences between the groups in ethnicity and chest discomfort. There were no statistical differences between the groups for gender, tobacco, smoking habits, symptoms, or pulmonary function parameters. Varied irritant exposures were associated with IVCD. IVCD should be considered in patients presenting with respiratory symptoms occurring after irritant exposures.