Velopharyngeal relationships of /i/ and /s/ as seen cephalometrically for persons with suspected incompetence.
Measurements of velopharyngeal gaps were obtained for 110 subjects with suspected velopharyngeal incompetence. Cephalometric x rays during a high vowel, /i/, and a sustained voiceless sibilant, /s/, were compared. Velopharyngeal gaps for the two phonemes differed in group means and for most individual subjects, with greater gaps being found for /i/ than for /s/. Persons with smaller gaps generally were found to have /i/ gaps in the absence of /s/ gaps, and greater /i-s/ discrepancy. Relationships between velum and pharyngeal wall perceived cephalometrically during /i/ and /s/ were not found to be equivalent. Generally, the /i/ radiograph agreed better with presumed velopharyngeal incompetence.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002508:Cephalometry / Q000379:methods*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002972:Cleft Palate / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D010159:Palate / Q000503:physiopathology; D010614:Pharynx / Q000503:physiopathology; D010700:Phonetics; D013060:Speech; D014681:Velopharyngeal Insufficiency / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology