[Carbon granuloma--an unwanted effect of laryngeal laser microsurgery].

Over recent twenty years, laser microsurgery has gained great recognition in the treatment of early carcinoma. From 1990 to 2004, more than 800 operations on the larynx were performed using laser microsurgery, including 167 chordectomies for squamous cell carcinoma. In 14 patients who were on the follow-up for 1 to 6 months, we observed a spherical, smooth structure (3-5 mm in diameter) in the middle part of the scar, which imitated local relapse of the neoplastic process. The lesion was removed with CO2 laser. Histopathologic examination revealed, in all cases, the presence of nonspecific, inflammatory process and development of granulation tissue. In only one patient in further follow-up, neoplastic growth recurred. Such lesions were not observed in other than chordectomy laser microsurgical procedures.