The impact of paraglottic space for laryngeal cancer spread

Malignant laryngeal cancer is the most common tumor of the head and neck. Radical laryngectomy not only causes the changes in breathing routes and disability to retain the air in the chest during the physical effort, but it also deprives the patient of a possibility to communicate. In order to limit and avoid mutilating surgery i.e. total laryngectomy, precise evaluation of tumor dimensions and spread is indispensable for organ preservation techniques application.The authors have undertaken the task of estimating the role of paraglottic space in spread of larynx cancer.The material of 180 patients operated on because of larynx cancer were analysed. 32% patients suffered from epiglottic carcinoma, 26% from glottic, 17% from transglottic carcinoma and 27% from multifocal carcinoma. Subglottic carcinomas was not identified.The paraglottic space was the most frequently penetrated by advanced tumors invading all three levels of the larynx, next by the transglottic tumors and by glottic localisations of cancer. The difficulties in diagnosing of this anatomical region have been stressed.