Above are photos of a patient with asthma and laryngeal papillomatosis. Over the past 5 months she has had 2 episodes where her voice became hoarse, and she suspected worsening of her underlying papilloma. Examination, however, revealed white debris on the vocal cords, and in the lower throat. She was treated with antifungal medication and her voice returned. As you can she, there is papilloma present on the right posterior vocal cord and on the left anterior vocal cord. But this is not the underlying cause of her recent change in voice.
This case illustrates that patients with papilloma are susceptible to other causes of laryngitis. In her case, inhaled corticosteroids for asthma led to the fungal infection.
