title: Do Pharyngeal Surgeries for Snoring and Obstructive Sleep Apnea Have an Impact on Nasalance Scores?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Most of the surgeries which are used in the treatment of habitual snoring and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) mainly target velopharyngeal structures, which play an important role in voice characteristics such as nasalance. The aim of this study is to assess the effect of different types of such surgical procedures including expansion sphincter pharyngoplasty (ESP), lateral pharyngoplasty (LP), and anterior palatoplasty (AP) on nasalance scores.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty-nine consecutive patients with primary snoring or OSA who underwent AP, LP, and ESP procedures were included in this study. All patients underwent a fully attended overnight polysomnography and detailed otolaryngologic examination. Nasalance studies were performed with Nasometer II instrument (model 6400; Kay Elemetrics, Lincoln Park, NJ) by reading 3 passages that were categorized according to the amount of nasal consonants (oral, oro-nasal, and nasal passages), preoperatively, and 3 months after surgery.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was no statistically significant difference in either group between preoperative and postoperative assessments of nasalance scores for all 3 passages. Seven patients experienced nasal regurgitation symptoms for fluids for a short time after LP, 2 patients after AP, and 7 patients after ESP. None of these symptoms showed persistence and diminished approximately at 1-month follow-up.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Anterior palatoplasty, LP, and ESP seem not to have any impact on nasalance scores of males.
authors.affiliation: *Gulhane Military Medical School, Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Ankara †Van Military Hospital, Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Van, Turkey.
authors.forename: Omer
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Karakoc
authors.forename: M Timur
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Akcam
authors.forename: Hakan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Genc
authors.forename: Hakan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Birkent
authors.forename: Murat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Binar
authors.forename: Mustafa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gerek
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010160:Palate, Soft / Q000601:surgery; D010609:Pharyngeal Muscles / Q000601:surgery*; D010614:Pharynx / Q000601:surgery*; D010700:Phonetics; D017286:Polysomnography / Q000379:methods; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D011446:Prospective Studies; D020181:Sleep Apnea, Obstructive / Q000601:surgery*; D012913:Snoring / Q000601:surgery*; D013060:Speech / Q000502:physiology; D013524:Surgical Flaps / Q000601:surgery; D014068:Tonsillectomy / Q000379:methods; D014833:Voice Quality / Q000502:physiology*