title: Laryngeal findings and acoustic changes in hubble-bubble smokers.
abstract: The purpose of our investigation was to evaluate the laryngeal findings and acoustic changes in hubble-bubble smokers. A total of 42 subjects with history of hubble-bubble smoking were recruited for this study. A corresponding group with a history of cigarette smoking and controls were matched. All subjects underwent laryngeal video-endostroboscopic evaluation and acoustic analysis. In the hubble-bubble smoking group, 61.9% were males. The average age was 30.02 +/- 9.48 years and the average number of years of smoking was 8.09 +/- 6.45 years. Three subjects had dysphonia at the time of examination. The incidence of benign lesions of the vocal folds in the hubble-bubble group was 21.5%, with edema being the most common at 16.7% followed by cyst at 4.8%. The incidence of laryngeal findings was significantly higher in the hubble-bubble group compared to controls. In the cigarette-smoking group, the most common finding was vocal fold cyst in 14.8% followed by polyps in 7.4%, and edema, sulcus vocalis and granuloma. These findings were not significantly different from the hubble-bubble group except for the thick mucus, which was significantly higher in the latter. There were no significant changes in any of the acoustic parameters between hubble-bubble smokers and controls except for the VTI and MPT, which were significantly lower in the hubble-bubble group. In comparison with the cigarette-smoking group, hubble-bubble smokers had significantly higher Fundamental frequency and habitual pitch (p value 0.042 and 0.008, respectively). The laryngeal findings in hubble-bubble smokers are comparable to cigarette smokers. These laryngeal findings are not translated acoustically, as all the acoustic parameters are within normal range compared to controls.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, American University of Beirut Medical Center, P.O. Box: 11-0236, Beirut, Lebanon. alhamdan@svclb.com
authors.forename: Abdul-latif
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Hamdan
authors.forename: Abla
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sibai
authors.forename: Dima
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Oubari
authors.forename: Jihad
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ashkar
authors.forename: Nabil
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Fuleihan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000336:Aerosols / Q000009:adverse effects; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007818:Laryngeal Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D007830:Larynx / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects*; D013061:Speech Acoustics; D049489:Stroboscopy; D014833:Voice Quality; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000336:Aerosols