Atypical Bilateral and Unilateral Vocal Cord Paralysis in Two Neonates With Williams Syndrome

Williams syndrome is a rare genetic disorder occurring in approximately 1 in 7500 individuals. The condition occurs as a result of deletions within chromosome 7q11.23, manifesting a unique phenotype with a wide constellation of symptoms. In this report of two cases, we present the care of two early‐term infants with Williams syndrome. The first infant was noted to have bilateral paralysis of the vocal folds and required multidisciplinary care that ultimately mandated home tracheostomy and gastrostomy tube usage, while the second had unilateral vocal cord paralysis and similarly needed continued gastrostomy tube usage and feeding therapy. This dysfunction of the vocal folds was thought to have occurred due to the deletion of the gene region involving elastin, resulting in these atypical findings that increased the complexity of care of these patients. We document the clinical courses of these patients and their treatment regimens.