Introduction Laryngeal
leukoplakia corresponds to a white lesion in the mucosa developed by the deposit of
keratin in the epithelium, potentiated by chronic smoking. It is considered a preneoplastic lesion. Surgery is the most adopted treatment; however, non-surgical treatment is advocated by some authors. Objective To evaluate the effectiveness of
vitamin A in the management of vocal fold
leukoplakia. Methods Patients with videolaryngoscopy diagnosis of vocal fold
leukoplakia were selected. The endoscopic images were photographed and with the aid of the ImageJ software (National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA), the proportion of the size of the
leukoplakia was calculated. Eligible patients were prescribed 50,000U of
vitamin A, twice daily for 2 months, at which point videolaryngostroboscopy was repeated for comparative analysis between pre and posttreatment. The efficacy of the treatment was classified as: outcome I - complete improvement of the lesion, outcome II - partial improvement, and outcome III - no difference or increased lesion size. Results Fifteen patients (eight women, seven men) were included, six of whom had bilateral lesions. Smoking was reported in 86.8% of patients. Complete improvement of the lesion was found in 7 cases (33.4%, outcome I), partial improvement in 6 (28.6%, outcome II), and worsening of the injury in 8 (38.1%, outcome III). Of the latter, 6 underwent microsurgery; histopathology indicated absence of dysplasia in 3, and mild dysplasia in 3. Conclusions In this study, the treatment with
vitamin A at a dose of 100,000 IU daily for 2 months was effective in reducing the laryngeal
leukoplakia size in 62% of cases.