Influence of adenotonsillar hypertrophy on /s/-articulation in children--effects of surgery.
Tonsillar hypertrophy is common in young children and affects several aspects of the speech such as distortions of the dento-alveolar consonants. The study objective was to assess /s/-articulation, perceptually and acoustically, in children with tonsillar hypertrophy and compare effects of two types of surgery, total tonsillectomy and tonsillotomy. Sixty-seven children, aged 50-65 months, on the waiting list for surgery, were randomized to tonsillectomy or tonsillotomy. The speech material was collected preoperatively and 6 months postoperatively. Two groups of age-matched children were controls. /S/-articulation was affected acoustically with lower spectral peak locations and perceptually with less distinct /s/-production before surgery, in comparison to controls. After surgery /s/-articulation was normalized perceptually, but acoustic differences remained. No significant differences between surgical methods were found.
Linköping University, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, IKE/Speech Language Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Linköping, Sweden. inger.lundeborghammarstrom@liu.se
Inger
I
Lundeborg
Elisabeth
E
Ericsson
Elisabeth
E
Hultcrantz
Anita M
AM
McAllister
D000234:Adenoids / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006984:Hypertrophy; D008297:Male; D014066:Palatine Tonsil / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D010699:Phonation; D013018:Sound Spectrography; D013061:Speech Acoustics; D013067:Speech Perception; D013068:Speech Production Measurement; D013548:Sweden; D013997:Time Factors; D014068:Tonsillectomy / Q000379:methods*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014833:Voice Quality