Analysis of voice and quantitative measurement of glottal gap after thyroplasty type I in the treatment of unilateral vocal paralysis.
Thyroplasty type I is one of several surgical treatments in which improving the voice of unilateral vocal fold paralysis is the ultimate objective. The goal of the surgery is the medialization of the paralyzed vocal fold. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of thyroplasty type I through acoustical analysis, aerodynamic measures, and quantitative videostroboscopic measurements. We report on 20 patients with unilateral vocal cord paralysis who underwent thyroplasty type I. We performed preoperative and postoperative video image analysis (normalized glottal gap area) and computer-assisted voice analysis (fundamental frequency, jitter, shimmer, noise-to-harmonic ratio, mean phonation time, mean flow rate, mean subglottic pressure) in all patients. The glottal gap was significantly reduced after thyroplasty type I. Postoperative voice quality was characterized by an improved pitch and amplitude pertubation (jitter and shimmer), phonation time (mean phonation time), and subglottic pressure (mean subglottic pressure). Thyroplasty type I is an effective method for regaining glottal closure and vocal function.
Shin
Jung-Eun
JE
Department of Otolaryngology; University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Asan Medical Center Seoul, Korea.
Nam
Soon Yuhl
SY
Yoo
Seung Joo
SJ
Kim
Sang Yoon
SY
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005931:Glottis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D013517:Otorhinolaryngologic Surgical Procedures / Q000379:methods*; D013961:Thyroid Gland / Q000601:surgery*; D014826:Vocal Cord Paralysis / Q000601:surgery*; D014832:Voice Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D014833:Voice Quality