About

Vocal cord dysfunction, also known as inducible laryngeal obstruction, affects about 20% of populations with asthma, about 10% of high-level athletes, and up to 70% of individuals with chronic cough.

The recognition of ILO/VCD is increasing. It is now evident that ILO/VCD plays an important role in numerous specialty areas including ENT surgery, respiratory medicine, pediatrics, sports medicine, allergy, emergency medicine, neurology, intensive care, and speech pathology. In the setting of suspected airways disease, ILO/VCD can mimic asthma and make it appear ‘severe’ or ‘difficult-to-treat’, resulting in potential iatrogenic harm from high dose inhaled and oral corticosteroid prescriptions.

Several recent initiatives emphasize the role and importance of ILO/VCD. In 2022, the International Olympic Committee formally recognized the importance of Exercise-Induced Laryngeal Obstruction. The revised 2023 Brighton Collaborative Anaphylaxis Case Definition explicitly recognizes the importance of ILO/VCD as an anaphylaxis mimic. Recently a Delphi study focused on ILO/VCD diagnosis was published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. The findings provide a foundation of agreed knowledge in the field. Finally, the Global Initiative for Inducible Laryngeal Obstruction (GILO) was initiated in June, 2023, potentially crafting a peak organization for future consensus and development of the field.

The Severe Asthma Toolkit has been a highly successful initiative and several factors indicate a clear need for a separate Web toolkit for ILO/VCD to draw together information and resources in an accessible and practical format. The VCD section of the Severe Asthma Toolkit is highly accessed and around one third of the scientific literature on ILO/VCD is review articles, demonstrating significant scientific interest. The VCD/ILO Roundtable in Melbourne, June 2022, an activity of the Centre of Excellence in Treatable Traits brought together international experts; they agreed that a ILO/VCD toolkit would be a priority for patients, clinicians, researchers and other interested people. Multiple contributors affirmed the need for this resource and stated that they would be willing to participate.

This toolkit facilitates improved education for clinicians and patients on clinical care. It was modelled on the internationally successful Severe Asthma Toolkit (https://toolkit.severeasthma.org.au/) and the Asthma in Pregnancy toolkit (https://asthmapregnancytoolkit.org.au/).