Clinically based comments on the proposal for revision of the European Laryngological Society (ELS) classification of endoscopic cordectomies.

No abstract available Conclusions ...In our opinion, there are no reasons to change the original ClassiWcation of cordectomies from type I to IV. On the other hand, the extension to the contralateral vocal fold (or arytenoid, ventricle, subglotts) should be stated in full. Considering the above-mentioned examples, we should classify them as type I cordectomy extended to contralateral vocal fold, and type IV cordectomy extended to contralateral vocal fold, respectively. Another reasonable subclassification modality could be to associate a letter with each cordectomy type (from I to IV) for anatomically identifying the extension of surgical excision (sub-type a for contralateral vocal fold extension, b for arytenoid extension, c for ventricular extension, and d for subglottic extension). Considering again our examples, we could classify them as type Ia and IVa type cordectomies, respectively. The extension to more than one laryngeal sub-sites could be codified with two or more letters (Fig. 5). Following this classification logic, a type VI cordectomy could be codified as type V. From our viewpoint, the practical advantage of our proposal of change of original ELS Classification is the capability to express the eVective “weight” of surgical excision. This information could be extremely useful in patients’ follow-up and immediate understanding of functional and oncological results...