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Acute and chronic laryngitis - Symptoms
Medical expert of the article
Last reviewed: 04.07.2025
Symptoms of laryngitis include hoarseness, cough, and difficulty breathing. Acute forms are characterized by a sudden onset of the disease in a generally good condition or against the background of slight malaise. Body temperature remains normal or rises to subfebrile numbers in catarrhal acute laryngitis. Febrile temperature, as a rule, reflects the addition of inflammation of the lower respiratory tract or the transition of catarrhal inflammation of the larynx to phlegmonous. Infiltrative and abscessing forms of acute laryngitis are characterized by severe pain in the throat, difficulty swallowing, including liquids, severe intoxication, and increasing symptoms of laryngeal stenosis. The severity of clinical manifestations directly correlates with the severity of inflammatory changes. The general condition of the patient becomes severe. The development of phlegmon of the entire and mediastinitis, sepsis, abscessing pneumonia is possible.
Chronic laryngitis is characterized by persistent vocal dysfunction, sometimes cough, sore throat during vocal exertion. With edematous-polyposis laryngitis, respiratory failure may develop as a consequence of third-degree laryngeal stenosis. Reinke's edema is characterized by signs of hirsutism in women, a tendency to facial edema.
With long-term laryngitis, hypertrophy of the vestibular part of the larynx develops due to the formation of false-fold phonation.
Classification of acute and chronic laryngitis
Laryngitis is divided into acute and chronic.
Forms of acute laryngitis:
- catarrhal;
- hydropic:
- phlegmonous (infiltrative-purulent):
- infiltrative;
- abscessing.
Forms of chronic laryngitis:
- catarrhal;
- edematous polyposis (Reinke-Hayek disease);
- atrophic;
- hyperplastic:
- limited;
- diffuse.
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