INTRODUCTION: Airway papillomas are benign tumors with high recurrence and induced by virus. Papillomatosis's etiology is related with papilloma human virus infection. Two clinical forms are described: juvenile and adult. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to compare the two clinical forms of the papillomatosis, juvenile and adult, observing if there are epidemiological or clinical differences between them. STUDY DESIGN: historical cohort. MATERIAL AND METHOD: We studied the patients followed in the ENT Department of HC-FMUSP with diagnosis of laryngeal papilomatose between 1990 and 1999. Fifty-one patients were identified, but seven did not confirm the diagnosis. Thus, 44 individuals were the base of this study, being 47,72% of juvenile form and 52,27% of adult form. RESULTS: There was no prevalence between gender (p=.98). The mean age at the beginning of the symptoms was of 5,3 years in juvenile form and 42,6 years in adult form. Dyspnea was more prevalent in juvenile form (p=.03). General recurrence was 66%, being of 76,2% in juvenile form and 56,5% in adult form (p=.17). The incidence of early recurrence (<3 months) was higher in juvenile form (p<.001). We observed 13% of malign transformation in adult form of the disease. CONCLUSIONS: In juvenile form, we have identified early recurrences associated with dyspnea, requiring multiple interventions. In adult form, we have also observed elevated recurrences, with high index of malign transformation. Treatments that increase the time between recurrences are necessary in two forms of papillomatosis.
papilloma; surgery; outcome assessment
