Outcomes of fat injection laryngoplasty in unilateral vocal cord paralysis.
OBJECTIVE
To analyze outcomes following fat injection laryngoplasty in patients with unilateral vocal cord paralysis.


METHODS
Longitudinal outcomes evaluation study.


METHODS
Tertiary referral voice center.


METHODS
Thirty-three consecutive patients with unilateral vocal cord paralysis undergoing autologous fat injection laryngoplasty with preoperative and serial postoperative follow-up at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.


METHODS
Autologous fat injection laryngoplasty.


METHODS
Voice laboratory measurements, Voice Outcome Survey, and 36-item Short Form Health Survey.


RESULTS
Except for the physical functioning dimension of global health, voice-related subjective outcomes and acoustic variables of the patients significantly improved after surgery (P < .05). Compared with population norms, the mean (SD) scores of patients were inferior on the 36-item Short Form Health Survey dimensions of physical functioning (80.7 [22.3] vs 90.2 [17.4]) and role functioning-physical problems (65.0 [36.2] vs 80.2 [36.2]). Overall, 88.9% (24 of 27) of the patients were satisfied with their surgery.


CONCLUSIONS
Fat injection laryngoplasty seems to be effective in enhancing acoustic and quality of life outcomes in patients with unilateral vocal cord paralysis. The effect is sustainable over 12 months.
Fang
Tuan-Jen
TJ
Department of Otolaryngology, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Keelung, Taiwan.
Li
Hsueh-Yu
HY
Gliklich
Richard E
RE
Chen
Ya-Hui
YH
Wang
Pa-Chun
PC
Chuang
Hsiu-Feng
HF
D000273:Adipose Tissue; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010699:Phonation; D011788:Quality of Life; D013061:Speech Acoustics; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014826:Vocal Cord Paralysis / Q000628:therapy*