Diagnosis, anatomy, and electromyography profiles of 73 nonrecurrent laryngeal nerves

BACKGROUND The purpose of this work was to compare methods of detecting nonrecurrent laryngeal nerves (NRLNs). METHODS Specificity and sensitivity were compared in three NRLN detection methods: CT, electromyography (EMG), and A-B point comparison. RESULTS A total of 73 intraoperative pictures and 36 CT details of NRLNs are presented. Incidence of NRLN was 0.39%. Type I NRLN accounted for 50.7%, type IIA 45.2%, type IIB 4.1%. The NRLN median latency was 2.13 ms vs 3.00 ms median in an RLN control group (P