Vocal Fold Vibration in Vocal Fold Atrophy: Quantitative Analysis With High-Speed Digital Imaging.
BACKGROUND
Vocal fold vibrations of vocal fold atrophy (VFA), a rapidly increasing voice disorder owing to worldwide societal aging, have not been clarified by high-speed digital imaging (HSDI).


METHODS
The HSDI method was performed on 46 patients (33 males and 13 females) with VFA and 20 vocally healthy subjects (8 males and 12 females), and the obtained data were quantitatively evaluated by frame-by-frame analysis, laryngotopography, single- and multi-line kymography, and glottal area waveform.


RESULTS
Overall, patients with VFA revealed larger open quotients, larger lateral phase difference, larger integral glottal width (the average glottal width over a glottal cycle), and smaller speed index than vocally healthy subjects. Some gender difference was noted: in males, lateral phase difference was not significant; and in females, integral glottal width and speed index were not significant. Correlation study revealed moderate correlations between HSDI-derived parameters and conventional acoustic or aerodynamic parameters.


CONCLUSIONS
The combination of multiple HSDI analysis methods was effective in documenting the characteristics of vocal fold vibrations in VFA. The knowledge of general vibratory characteristics and gender difference is beneficial for the appropriate clinical care of VFA.
Department of Otolaryngology, The University of Tokyo Hospital, Tokyo, Japan. Electronic address: drachilles23@yahoo.co.jp.
Akihito
A
Yamauchi
Department of Otolaryngology, The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Hospital, Tokyo, Japan.
Hisayuki
H
Yokonishi
Department of Otolaryngology, The University of Tokyo Hospital, Tokyo, Japan.
Hiroshi
H
Imagawa
Department of Communication Disorders, The Health Sciences University of Hokkaido, Hokkaido, Japan.
Ken-Ichi
K
Sakakibara
Department of Otolaryngology, The University of Tokyo Hospital, Tokyo, Japan.
Takaharu
T
Nito
Department of Otolaryngology and Tracheo-Esophagology, The National Center for Global Health and Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
Niro
N
Tayama
Department of Otolaryngology, The University of Tokyo Hospital, Tokyo, Japan.
Tatsuya
T
Yamasoba
D000368:Aged; D001284:Atrophy / Q000503:physiopathology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007734:Kymography; D007818:Laryngeal Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D014732:Vibration; D014827:Vocal Cords / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*
Aging; Anti-aging; High-speed digital imaging; Presbyphonia; Vocal fold atrophy