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Office-based blue laser therapy for dyspnea in patients with type 3 Reinke’s edema

  • Laryngology
  • Published:
European Archives of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

To investigate the effectiveness of in-office blue laser therapy on dyspnea in patients with type 3 Reinke’s edema.

Methods

The medical records and video-recordings of patients with Reinke’s edema type 3 who had undergone office-based blue laser therapy between March 2022 and January 2023 were reviewed. The primary outcome measures assessed before and after surgery were dyspnea severity, risk of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), and disease regression. The severity of dyspnea was measured using the Dyspnea Severity Index (DSI), the risk of OSA was assessed using the STOP-BANG questionnaire, and disease regression was assessed by reviewing the laryngeal examination before and after surgery. The Voice Handicap Index-10 (VHI-10) was used as a secondary outcome measure.

Result

A total of 10 patients were included. The mean age of the study population was 58.9 ± 4.2 years. The male-to-female ratio was 2:3. In total, 20 vocal fold lesions were treated among which 18 were reviewed. Eight lesions regressed completely and 10 partially. There was a statistically significant drop in the mean score of DSI after surgery (16.1 ± 10.2 pre-operatively vs 2.3 ± 2.3 post-operatively, p-value < 0.001). The mean STOP-BANG score decreased from 4.8 ± 1.47 to 3.1 ± 1.28 (p-value = 0.001). There was also a significant improvement in VHI-10 score (22.7 ± 7.0 vs 4.4 ± 5.6, p-value < 0.001).

Conclusion

Office-based blue laser therapy offers a safe and effective treatment for shortness of breath in patients with type 3 Reinke’s edema.

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Availability of data and materials

The data that support the findings of this study are available upon request.

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Funding

No funding was received to assist with the preparation of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, American University of Beirut Medical Center, Beirut, Lebanon

    Abdul-Latif Hamdan, Patrick Abou Raji Feghali, Jad Hosri, Christophe Abi Zeid Daou & Anthony Ghanem

Authors
  1. Abdul-Latif Hamdan
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  2. Patrick Abou Raji Feghali
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  3. Jad Hosri
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  4. Christophe Abi Zeid Daou
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  5. Anthony Ghanem
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by PARF, JH, CAZD and AG. The first draft of the manuscript was written by A-LH and Patrick ARF and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Abdul-Latif Hamdan.

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Conflict of interest

The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.

Ethical approval

The study has been approved by American University of Beirut Institutional Review Board, Approval Number: BIO-2022-0280.

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Hamdan, AL., Abou Raji Feghali, P., Hosri, J. et al. Office-based blue laser therapy for dyspnea in patients with type 3 Reinke’s edema. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol 280, 3323–3328 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-023-07964-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-023-07964-4

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