title: Swallowing, voice, and quality of life after supratracheal laryngectomy: preliminary long-term results.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The purpose of this study was to report preliminary long-term outcomes after supratracheal laryngectomy (STL).
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-two male patients who underwent STL were involved in this study. Swallowing skills, neoglottis motility, and vibrations were videoendoscopically assessed. Aerodynamic measures, spectrogram analysis, aspiration pneumonia, body weight variations, and voice perceptual assessment were performed. Generic, voice-related, and swallowing-related quality of life (QOL) were assessed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Aspiration was found in 10, 2, and 5 patients, respectively, for liquids, semisolids, and solids. Neoglottis motility was generally preserved, whereas vibration was impaired. Aerodynamic measures showed a poor performance. Perceptual assessment revealed highly dysphonic voices. In only 8 patients, a harmonic structure was visible in the spectrograms. Aspiration pneumonia occurred in 2 patients. Preoperative weight was maintained in 16 patients. Generic, voice-related, and swallowing-related QOL revealed satisfied patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  After STL, swallowing was sufficiently restored and QOL was satisfactory, whereas the voice was severely impaired even if oral communication was well preserved.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences "L. Sacco,", University of Milan, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schindler
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fantini
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Pizzorni
authors.forename: Erika
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Crosetti
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Mozzanica
authors.forename: Andy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bertolin
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ottaviani
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Rizzotto
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Succo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003679:Deglutition; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D007825:Laryngectomy / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011788:Quality of Life; D020127:Recovery of Function; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014831:Voice; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: functional outcomes; quality of life; supratracheal laryngectomy; swallowing; voice