Nasalance, nasality, voice, and articulation after uvulopalatopharyngoplasty.
OBJECTIVE
The main purpose of the study was to determine the impact of uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP) on nasalance and nasality. It was hypothesized that nasalance would change from the presurgical to the postsurgical condition because the surgical protocol involves removal of palatal tissue. An additional objective of the study was to provide objective and subjective data about changes in voice and articulation after UPPP. Because the surgical procedure of UPPP does not involve laryngeal tissue, it was hypothesized that the voice characteristics remain relatively stable. Because of removal of effective velar length, articulation problems of the uvular /R/ can occur in the Dutch language.


METHODS
Prospective study in which 26 men were studied before (1 week before UPPP) and after (3 weeks after UPPP) surgery.


METHODS
The Nasometer was used to obtain nasalance scores. The mirror-fogging test, a perceptual evaluation of each subject's readings, and the Gutzmann and the Bzoch hypernasality tests were used for the assessment of nasality. For the assessment of articulation, a phonetic analysis was performed. Voice assessment included a perceptual rating of the voice and a determination of fundamental frequency.


RESULTS
No significant differences were found between the conditions before and after surgery regarding nasalance (except for the vowel /i/), nasality, and voice. Regarding articulation, only 1 patient showed a derhotacized /R/.


CONCLUSIONS
The findings of the study indicate that UPPP does not have an impact on nasality, voice, and articulation. Regarding nasalance, no significant nasalance change occurred after UPPP, except for the high vowel /i/.
Van Lierde
Kristiane M
KM
Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Ghent University Hospital, Belgium. kristiane.vanlierde@rug.ac.be
Van Borsel
John
J
Moerman
Mieke
M
Van Cauwenberge
Paul
P
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001184:Articulation Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010160:Palate, Soft / Q000601:surgery*; D010614:Pharynx / Q000601:surgery*; D020181:Sleep Apnea, Obstructive / Q000601:surgery*; D013018:Sound Spectrography; D013061:Speech Acoustics; D013062:Speech Articulation Tests; D014609:Uvula / Q000601:surgery*; D014832:Voice Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D014833:Voice Quality