title: Oral squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue: Prospective and objective speech evaluation of patients undergoing surgical therapy.
abstract: Prospective speech intelligibility assessments lack objectivity in patients undergoing surgery for oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) of the tongue.
  
  
  
  Speech intelligibility was measured based on word recognition by means of an automatic and objective speech recognition system preoperatively, and 14 to 20 days, and 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months postoperatively. The study comprised 25 patients with OSCC of the tongue and a healthy control group (n = 40).
  
  
  
  Patients yielded significant speech impairments compared to the healthy control group both before surgery and after 12 months (p ≤ .002). The speech intelligibility of the patients decreased significantly 14 to 20 days after surgery (p < .001) but realigned to preoperative values after 12 months (p = .159). Preservation of the tip of the tongue resulted in significantly higher word recognition after 12 months (p = .007; Δword recognition = 16.29).
  
  
  
  Having OSSC of the tongue results in a significant impairment of speech intelligibility. The preservation of the tip of the tongue seems to be a central factor concerning the recovery of speech. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck 38: 993-1001, 2016.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, University Hospital of Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU), Erlangen, Germany.
authors.forename: Max
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Riemann
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, University Hospital of Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU), Erlangen, Germany.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Knipfer
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, University Hospital of Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU), Erlangen, Germany.
authors.forename: Maximilian
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rohde
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Informatics, Biometry and Epidemiology, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU), Erlangen, Germany.
authors.forename: Werner
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Adler
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, University Hospital of Munich, Ludwig-Maximilians University Munich (LMU), Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schuster
authors.affiliation: Department of Computer Science, Chair of Pattern Recognition, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU), Erlangen, Germany.
authors.forename: Elmar
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Noeth
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, University Hospital of Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU), Erlangen, Germany.
authors.forename: Nico
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Oetter
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, University Hospital of Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU), Erlangen, Germany.
authors.forename: Nima
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Shams
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, University Hospital of Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU), Erlangen, Germany.
authors.forename: Friedrich-Wilhelm
authors.initials: FW
authors.lastname: Neukam
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, University Hospital of Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU), Erlangen, Germany.
authors.forename: Florian
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Stelzle
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001707:Biopsy, Needle; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D016208:Databases, Factual; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D005927:Glossectomy / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D011379:Prognosis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D019651:Plastic Surgery Procedures / Q000379:methods; D013065:Speech Intelligibility / Q000502:physiology*; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013524:Surgical Flaps / Q000637:transplantation; D016019:Survival Analysis; D014062:Tongue Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*
keywords: oral cancer; speech recognition; speech rehabilitation; surgery; tongue