The presence of tyrosine-rich crystalloids in salivary neoplasms is well known, but such crystals have rarely been described in other sites. To our knowledge, the presence of tyrosine-rich crystals in vocal cord mucosa has not been previously described.

A 61-year-old man presented with hoarseness of voice for 12 months. He also complained of coughing, which had improved after he had stopped smoking. There was no history of any treatment to the vocal cords. His medical history included hypertension, anxiety, vasectomy and tonsillectomy. Microlaryngoscopy revealed Reinke’s oedema of the right vocal cord and a polyp of the left true vocal cord, which was removed. An H&E-stained section showed normal non-keratinising squamous epithelium covering oedematous vocal cord mucosa with …