Supracricoid Partial Laryngectomies: Oncologic and Functional Results

Background: The authors present their study on oncologic and functional results of supracricoid partial laryngectomies (SPL) performed on 149 patients between January 1984 and December 1995.

Methods: Cricohyoidopexy (CHP) was carried out on 98 patients and cricohyoidoepiglottopexy (CHEP) on 51 patients. The patients were divided into two groups. The first group included those operated on between January 1984 and December 1992 and who therefore had a minimum follow-up period of 3 years. The second group included those operated on after December 1992 and who therefore had a follow-up period of less than 3 years. The statistical evaluation of this second group was carried out using an actuarial method according to Kaplan-Meier.

Results: In the first group, survival rate (regarding disease-related deaths) was 94% (95/101), whereas in the second group, survival rate was 95%. There were 9 recurrences in the 149 patients (6.71%), B of which occurred after CHP (6 for tumor [T] and 2 for node [N]) and 1 (for T) after CHEP. Three of the 6 recurrences for T after CHP occurred in the hypopharynx, 2 in the peristomal area, and 1 in the arytenoid area. The only recurrence for T after CHEP occurred in the paraglottic area. Decannulation was carried out in 85.7% of CHP patients (84/98) and in 98% of CHEP patients (50/51). The nasogastric tube was kept in position for an average of 28 days (range, 15-90 days) in the CHP patients and 15 days (range, 9-90 days) in the CHEP patients. Swallowing was excellent; only a small number of patients (n = 21) were forced to assume a particular posture during meals. Phoniatric controls performed on 104 patients also showed adequate speech recovery.

Conclusions: If the indications are applied scrupulously, CHEP is a valid alternative to partial laryngeal surgery and CHP is a possible alternative to total laryngectomy in the treatment of glottic and supraglottic tumors.