II. Causes: Primary Intralaryngeal

  1. Acute Laryngitis
    1. Viral Laryngitis (e.g. Upper Respiratory Infection)
    2. Fungal Laryngitis
    3. Bacterial Laryngitis
    4. Acute Epiglottitis
    5. Croup
    6. Bacterial Tracheitis
  2. Chronic Laryngitis
    1. See Medication Causes of Hoarseness
    2. Foreign Body Ingestion
    3. Voice Abuse (most common cause)
    4. Irritants
      1. Gastroesophageal Reflux (Reflux Laryngitis)
      2. Alcohol Abuse
      3. Tobacco smoke exposure (or other environmental irritants)
        1. Irritative Laryngitis with edema of Vocal Cords
    5. Laryngeal growths
      1. Laryngeal Neoplasm (esp. Squamous Cell Carcinoma or premalignant dysplasia)
      2. Laryngeal Polyp (or laryngeal papillomatosis) or Nodules
      3. Reinke Edema (polypoid chorditis, cysts or pseudocysts)
      4. Traumatic Granuloma from intubation

III. Causes: Secondary Intralaryngeal

  1. Intrinsic Laryngeal Muscle Weakness
    1. Hypothyroidism
    2. Myasthenia Gravis
    3. Bulbar palsy (severe Dysphagia also present)
    4. Multiple Sclerosis
    5. Age-related voice atrophy
    6. Parkinsonism
    7. Cerebrovascular Accident
  2. Cricoarytenoid joint Arthritis or fixation
    1. Rheumatoid Arthritis
    2. Gout
    3. Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE)
    4. Acromegaly
    5. Sarcoidosis
    6. Trauma (e.g. Intubation)

IV. Causes: Laryngeal Nerve Damage (left recurrent laryngeal nerve)

  1. Surgical Procedures (Thyroid, neck, chest)
    1. Vagus Nerve or recurrent laryngeal nerve injury
  2. Malignancies
    1. Thyroid Cancer
    2. Esophageal Cancer
    3. Lung Cancer
  3. Neuropathy
    1. Diabetic Neuropathy
    2. Viral Neuropathy

V. Causes: Functional Hoarseness (no organic cause)

Images: Related links to external sites (from Bing)

Related Studies

Ontology: Hoarseness (C0019825)

Definition (NCI_CTCAE) A disorder characterized by harsh and raspy voice arising from or spreading to the larynx.
Definition (NCI) Harsh and raspy voice secondary to laryngeal infection, voice overuse, irritants inhalation, vocal cord paralysis, vocal cord polyps, and malignant neoplasms arising from or spreading to the larynx.
Definition (MSH) An unnaturally deep or rough quality of voice.
Concepts Sign or Symptom (T184)
MSH D006685
ICD10 R49.0
SnomedCT 206974000, 50219008, 158311009, 162393004, 139661005, 162391002, 139663008, 139664002
English Hoarseness, Hoarsenesses, HOARSENESS, [D]Hoarseness, Hoarseness symptom NOS, [D]Hoarseness (context-dependent category), Hoarse voice quality, hoarseness (symptom), hoarseness, Hoarseness of Voice, Voice Hoarseness, Hoarseness [Disease/Finding], husky voice, hoarse, hoarse voice, Hoarseness;voice, Hoarseness, Voice, [D]Hoarseness (situation), Hoarseness symptom NOS (finding), Hoarse, Hoarseness - throat symptom, Hoarseness symptom, Voice hoarseness, Croaky voice, Husky voice, Hoarse (finding), Hoarse voice, Hoarseness of voice, hoarseness of voice
French ENROUEMENT, Voix enrouée, Enrouement de la voix, Enrouement
Portuguese ROUQUIDAO, Rouquidão da voz, Voz rouca, Rouquidão
Spanish RONQUERA, Voz ronca, [D]ronquera (categoría dependiente del contexto), síntoma de ronquera, SAI, síntoma de ronquera, SAI (hallazgo), Hoarseness symptom NOS, [D]ronquera, [D]ronquera (situación), carraspera, voz ronca (hallazgo), voz ronca, Ronquera
German HEISERKEIT, Heiserkeit der Stimme, heisere Stimme, Heiserkeit
Dutch heesheid van de stem, hese stem, heesheid, Heesheid
Italian Raucedine della voce, Voce roca, Voce rauca, Raucedine
Swedish Heshet
Japanese サセイ, 嗄声, さ声, しわがれ声
Czech chrapot, Chrapot v hlase, Chraptivý hlas, Chrapot
Finnish Käheys
Russian OKHRIPLOST', ОХРИПЛОСТЬ
Polish Chrypka
Hungarian Rekedtség
Norwegian Heshet