title: Relationship between nasal valve changes and nasalance of the voice.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  It is well known that the nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses affect the acoustic characteristics of the voice as resonators. Any expansion in nasal valve area, the narrowest segment of the nasal cavity, affects the nasal resistance and therefore has the potential to alter the nasalance. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of nasal valve changes on nasalance of the voice by using an external nasal dilator strip that widens the nasal valve area.
  
  
  METHODS
  Before-and-after study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Tertiary university hospital.
  
  
  METHODS
  Healthy volunteer subjects who had no nasal or voice-related complaints were enrolled in the study. All subjects underwent acoustic rhinometry and nasometry before and while wearing a commercially available external nasal dilator strip. The data with and without the nasal strip were compared.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twenty-five subjects were enrolled in the study. After the application of nasal strips, statistically significant increases were observed in the minimal cross-sectional area of the nasal valve. However, there were no significant changes in the nasalance measurements.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Despite increasing the nasal valve area, application of the nasal strips did not cause any significant change in nasalance scores in healthy subjects, showing no relationship between the nasal valve and nasalance of the voice.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Gulhane Military Medical School, Ankara, Turkey. mgerek@gata.edu.tr
authors.forename: Mustafa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gerek
authors.forename: Abdullah
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Durmaz
authors.forename: Umit
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Aydin
authors.forename: Hakan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Birkent
authors.forename: Yusuf
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hidir
authors.forename: Fuat
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Tosun
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004106:Dilatation / Q000295:instrumentation; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009296:Nasal Cavity / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000502:physiology; D014833:Voice Quality; D055815:Young Adult