Ortner syndrome

Abstract

Ortner syndrome, or cardio-vocal syndrome, is a clinical entity characterised by hoarseness (secondary to left-sided recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy) caused by cardiovascular disease. It has been reported in up to 12% of patients with aortic aneurysms. Vocal cord palsy is rarely reported in paediatric patients with cardiac pathology. A reason for the paucity of data in paediatric cardiac patients could be due to the focus on patient survival rather than secondary complications of the disease and its treatment. Most cases have been described in adults, and to the best of our knowledge this is the youngest patient mentioned in the literature.