Bilateral Vocal Cord Palsy Secondary to Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) can cause a number of laryngeal manifestations; however, most of these do not cause an airway emergency. Airway obstruction due to vocal cord fixation of one or both vocal cords occurs late in the disease process of RA and can present as an inspiratory stridor. We report the case of an elderly lady who presented with acute stridor secondary to RA-induced bilateral vocal cord palsy and describe the various management options that were considered.