A case of intramuscular hemangioma of the posterior cricoarytenoid muscle

Intramusucular hemangioma is a benign neoplasm frequently arising from the skeletal muscles of the trunk and extremities. Involvement of the head and neck by this tumor is rare, even though the majority of such tumors originate from the masseter and the trapezius. Preoperative diagnosis is very difficult because of the rarity and the distribution of these tumors in the deep space. We report on a rare case of intramuscular hemangioma, involving the posterior cricoarytenoid muscle. A 82-year-old female patient with an abnormal sensation in her throat, was found to have a tumor in the left piriform sinus. Thus we performed biopsies twice, but the pathology was not confirmed, with a report of just normal mucosa. However we speculated that the tumor was benign and so performed a lateral neck exploration. The tumor was completely removed. Histological examination revealed it to be an intramuscular hemangioma of the skeletal muscle. Based on the intraoperative findings of the tumor, we diagnosed it as an intramuscular hemanginoma originating from the posterior cricoarytenoid muscle. As the posterior cricoarytenoid muscle opens the glottal space, the left vocal cord was fixed medially after the surgery. Nevertheless its tonus appeared fine and phonetic function remained normal.