Visualization of the hyoid bone with laryngeal endoscopy.

A 51-year-old businessman with a history of recurrent laryngeal papillomatosis presented to our office for an evaluation. He had undergone numerous excisions and photodynamic therapy by other otolaryngologists. He was seeking an additional opinion and wished to be considered for cidofovir injection. Since his last surgery, his hoarseness had increased, but he denied any dyspnea or dysphagia.

Stroboscopic examination detected bilateral papillomatosis of the true and false vocal folds. The patient was treated with cold excision and cidofovir injection. At follow-up examinations over a period of years, he remained free of disease. However, at his most recent evaluation, we detected a "mass" on the posterior pharyngeal wall (figure). This mass turned out to be the hyoid bone, which had protruded into the pharyngeal mucosa. This finding is a normal variant and should not be mistaken for pathology.

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