Vocal cord disorders: uncommon causes of dyspnea

Abstract

Dyspnea is a subjective sensation of difficult or uncomfortable breathing experienced by the patient. The etiology includes myriad causes starting from cardiopulmonary to psychogenic. The evaluation of dyspnea needs to be thorough so as to take into account all possible causes. Vocal cord disorders are a group of conditions uncommonly leading to dyspnea. These patients are usually wrongly labelled as difficult-to-treat asthma and consequently experience significant morbidity. Two cases of vocal cord disorders were presented with dyspnea and initially attributed to pulmonary causes and will be discussed in the present study.