Exercise-induced vocal cord dysfunction and exercise-induced laryngomalacia in children and adolescents: the same clinical syndrome?

BACKGROUND: Exercise-induced respiratory symptoms associated with paradoxical laryngeal motion are relatively common and often mistaken for asthma. Exercise-induced vocal cord dysfunction (VCD) and exercise-induced laryngomalacia (LM) have been described separately in the literature but have never been systematically compared.

OBJECTIVE: To compare subjects with a confirmed diagnosis of exercise-induced VCD or exercise-induced LM by performing a retrospective chart review of subjects who had symptoms provoked by a free running exercise challenge and documented concurrent paradoxical laryngeal motion.

METHODS: Demographic and clinical characteristics were analyzed in patients with confirmed paradoxical motion of the vocal cords (VCD) and those with paradoxical arytenoid motion without abnormal vocal cord movement (LM) during symptoms.

RESULTS: Sixty subjects with exercise-induced LM and 83 subjects with exercise-induced VCD were identified. Subjects with confirmed exercise-induced VCD were slightly older, had a higher body mass index, and higher grade point averages compared with subjects with exercise-induced LM without abnormal vocal cord movement. There were no differences in sex distribution, presenting symptoms, reported aggravating factors other than exercise, atopic status, confirmed bronchospasm during symptoms, mean number of asthma controller medications at time of evaluation, level of athletic competition, reported history of acid reflux, reported history of psychiatric disorders, baseline lung function, or lung function during symptoms. Most subjects were not "elite" athletes and did not have a history of anxiety or depression.

CONCLUSION: There were remarkably few differences between subjects with exercise-induced VCD and those with exercise-induced LM. Prospective controlled studies are needed to determine whether exercise-induced VCD and exercise-induced LM are in fact distinct syndromes.