Tag Archives: cardiovocal syndrome

Figure 1. Chest X-ray showing widened mediastinum Discussion Ortner’s syndrome, or cardiovocal syndrome, is a clinical condition associated with left recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy due to cardiovascular disease. The palsy arises from compression of the recurrent laryngeal nerve as it passes between the arch of the aorta and the pulmonary artery.1,2 The syndrome was first described in 1897 by Norbert Ortner, an Austrian physician who ascribed hoarseness of voice with left recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy secondary to a dilated left atrium in three patients with mitral valve stenosis.3 It has now been estimated that the incidence of Ortner’

Case report Figure 1. Echocardiogram showing dilated left atrium A female patient was admitted to our unit after the second repair of her mitral valve, with breathlessness and hoarseness about 10 days after the operation. Prior to the last revision she was in left ventricular failure due to severe paravalvular mitral regurgitation and, despite severe pulmonary hypertension and dilated left atrium (figure 1), she did not have any vocal symptoms prior to the operation. Ear, nose and throat examination revealed left vocal cord palsy with normal pharynx and larynx. During her stay her voice steadily improved. Discussion Cases have been reported s