title: Consonantal intraoral air pressure characteristics in Brazilian postoperative cleft palate speakers with velopharyngeal disorders.
abstract: 1. In the present study we measured intraoral air pressure (Po) during the production of the stop consonant /p/, in a syllabic contex, in normal and surgically repaired cleft palate subjects. Po was measured by placing a sensing catheter between the lips in the oral cavity. The catheter was connected to a pressure transducer and the output signals were amplified and transmitted to a recorder. 2. When compared to normal individuals, cleft palate patients with velopharyngeal insufficiency (VPI) and oral articulation for /p/ presented significantly lower Po levels (P less than 0.01) but pressure curves of normal shape. 3. In cleft palate patients with VPI and glottal coarticulation for /p/, Po was absent or markedly reduced; in the latter case, the Po curve was of a characteristically irregular shape. 4. These results suggest that measurement of Po during the production of a selected consonant appears to be a suitable instrumental method for identifying VPI and discriminating an oral stop from the compensatory glottal stop often observed in postoperative cleft palate speakers.
authors.affiliation: Hospital de Pesquisa e Reabilitação de Lesões Lábio-Palatais, Universidade de São Paulo, Bauru, Brasil.
authors.forename: I E
authors.initials: IE
authors.lastname: Trindade
authors.forename: R Z
authors.initials: RZ
authors.lastname: Paciello
authors.forename: A S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Trindade Júnior
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Souza-Freitas
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000399:Air Pressure; D001184:Articulation Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002972:Cleft Palate / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010700:Phonetics; D013060:Speech / Q000502:physiology*; D014681:Velopharyngeal Insufficiency / Q000503:physiopathology*