Local Amyloid Disease of the Upper AIr Passages: Report of Five Cases

Since 1873, when Burow and Neumann first described amyloid tumors of the larynx, cases have been reported in the medical literature. In the first cases reported the tumors were discovered at autopsy, but with the gradual improvement in clinical methods of examination, more cases have been recognized and confirmed by biopsy. I am inclined to believe and have been led to understand that local amyloid disease of the upper air passages is relatively rare, since in the entire literature there are not many more than fifty cases. Whether this is due to an actual rarity of this rather peculiar pathologic condition or a lack of alertness on the part of the clinician is difficult to determine. One, however, cannot help but think that this particular disease will be recognized more often in the future. The upper air passages, according to New,1seem to be predisposed to local amyloid disease