• Korean Journal of Bronchoesophagology
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.132-136
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• 1998

Nonrecurrence of the inferior laryngeal nerve always results from a vascular anomaly during embryonic development of the aortic arches. The nonrecurrent inferior laryngeal nerve is important clinically for two reasons, it is vulnerable during thyroid surgery and it is associated with difficulty in swallowing. It can be suspected preoperatively from signs associated with the vascular anomaly : dysphagea, thoracic x-ray images showing evidence of retroesophageal subclavian artery, or situs inversus viscerum. If such signs are noted, a barium swallow test and chest computed tomography are justified. We experienced a case of Rt. nonrecurrent inferior laryngeal nerve, which is diagnosed thyroid papillary carcinoma.

• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.183-192
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• 1993

This study reports a prospective analysis of anatomical variations of recurrent laryngeal nerves during 300 thyroidectomies. During thyroidectomies for variable thyroid diseases. the course of recurrent laryngeal nerve was completely isolated from root of neck to the inferior comus of thyroid cartilage. In left side, nerve(53.7%) predominantly ran posterior to the inferior thyroidal artery(p<0.05) but in right side there was no predominant pattern. There were three nonrecurrent laryngeal nerves in the right side. About half of the cases in both sides(51.2% in right, 50.5% in left side) had one or more branches before terminating at cricothyroidal muscles. The average length of branches from inferior comus of thyroid cartilage to the origination of individual branch were l2.0mm in right side and 13.3mm in left side. In right side, majority(50.7%) of nerves ran though paratracheal space but difference did not reach the statistical but in left side, majority(88.3%) ran through tracheoesophageal groove and it was the dominant pattern(p<0.01), the overall status of passages of the nerve were relatively straight in left side(straight 87.8%, oblique 52.1%).