title: Recurrent laryngeal nerve section for spastic dysphonia: 5- to 14-year preliminary results in the first 300 patients.
abstract: This presentation compares the preoperative voice recordings and the latest follow-up voice recordings, made 5 to 14 years postoperatively, of the first 300 patients with various degrees of spastic dysphonia whom we treated with recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) sections from 1975 to 1982. Voice therapy was usually given afterward and in some patients, when necessary, "fine tuning" surgery was performed later. The 243 patients who could be located were asked to answer a questionnaire regarding their voice production and communication abilities, and to make a voice recording. The preoperative and long-term postoperative voice recordings were analyzed by means of perceptual voice evaluation and acoustic analysis of the voice spectra. Fifteen percent developed recurrence of mild to moderate spasticity 6 to 24 months after the RLN section. This was curable with laser vocal cord thinning via direct laryngoscopy. Eighty-two percent of patients had little or no voice spasticity 5 to 14 years after their RLN section. The experimental alternative of injecting botulin directly into the vocal cord to temporarily paralyze it is discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of California, San Francisco 94143.
authors.forename: H H
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Dedo
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Behlau
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012009:Recurrent Laryngeal Nerve / Q000601:surgery*; D013018:Sound Spectrography; D013997:Time Factors; D014832:Voice Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000534:rehabilitation / Q000601:surgery*; D014833:Voice Quality / Q000502:physiology*; D014834:Voice Training