A rare cause of dysphonia

Abstract

Although dysphonia is a common complaint among patients seen in an otolaryngology clinic, an autoimmune cause of the problem is less common. Autoimmune disease can be the source of various laryngologic manifestations, but diagnosis depends on a high index of suspicion, careful patient evaluation and testing, and videolaryngoscopy (videostroboscopy if available) to uncover specific identifying findings. This report describes a patient presenting with upper-range vocal difficulties who was found to have early systemic lupus erythematosus.