title: Recovery of speech following total glossectomy: an acoustic and perceptual appraisal.
abstract: This study involved an acoustic and perceptual analysis of the speech produced by a 31-year-old female following total glossectomy. Speech samples were collected on three occasions within the first 3 months following glossectomy. Vowel articulation was examined acoustically as a function of vowel space and the Euclidean distance separating corner vowels. Perceptual analyses involved presentation of the participant's CV productions to 30 healthy adult listeners who made forced-choice identifications of consonant type. Acoustic analysis revealed improvements in vowel space area and an increase in the Euclidean distances. The perceptual results revealed a statistically significant deterioration in consonants over the 3-month period with anterior sounds being perceived more correctly than medial and posterior sounds. The current study highlights the variable nature of speech following glossectomy, with greater improvements in vowel articulation compared to consonant articulation during the earliest stages of surgical recovery.
authors.affiliation: Department of Communication Disorders,University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand. rka44@uclive.ac.nz
authors.forename: Ramesh
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kaipa
authors.forename: Michael P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Robb
authors.forename: Greg A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: O'Beirne
authors.forename: Robert S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Allison
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D005927:Glossectomy / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D011571:Psychoacoustics; D020127:Recovery of Function; D013061:Speech Acoustics; D013064:Speech Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D013065:Speech Intelligibility; D013067:Speech Perception; D013068:Speech Production Measurement; D013997:Time Factors; D014062:Tongue Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D014833:Voice Quality