Abstract
Introduction Laryngeal leukoplakia corresponds to a white lesion in the mucosa developed by the
deposit of keratin in the epithelium, potentiated by chronic smoking. It is considered
a preneoplastic lesion. Surgery is the most adopted treatment; however, non-surgical
treatment is advocated by some authors.
Objective To evaluate the effectiveness of vitamin A in the management of vocal fold leukoplakia.
Methods Patients with videolaryngoscopy diagnosis of vocal fold leukoplakia were selected.
The endoscopic images were photographed and with the aid of the ImageJ software (National
Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA), the proportion of the size of the leukoplakia
was calculated. Eligible patients were prescribed 50,000U of vitamin A, twice daily
for 2 months, at which point videolaryngostroboscopy was repeated for comparative
analysis between pre and posttreatment. The efficacy of the treatment was classified
as: outcome I – complete improvement of the lesion, outcome II – partial improvement,
and outcome III – no difference or increased lesion size.
Results Fifteen patients (eight women, seven men) were included, six of whom had bilateral
lesions. Smoking was reported in 86.8% of patients. Complete improvement of the lesion
was found in 7 cases (33.4%, outcome I), partial improvement in 6 (28.6%, outcome
II), and worsening of the injury in 8 (38.1%, outcome III). Of the latter, 6 underwent
microsurgery; histopathology indicated absence of dysplasia in 3, and mild dysplasia
in 3.
Conclusions In this study, the treatment with vitamin A at a dose of 100,000 IU daily for 2 months
was effective in reducing the laryngeal leukoplakia size in 62% of cases.
Keywords
leukoplakia - vocal folds - larynx - vitamin A - treatment
