Lauren Medeiros Paniagua

Velopharyngeal dysfunction: a systematic review of major instrumental and auditory-perceptual assessments

Summary Introduction: Velopharyngeal dysfunction may cause impaired verbal communication skills in individuals with cleft lip and palate; thus, patients with this disorder need to undergo both instrumental and auditory-perceptual assessments. Objective: To investigate the main methods used to evaluate velopharyngeal function in individuals with cleft lip and palate and to determine whether there is an association between videonasoendoscopy results and auditory-perceptual assessments. Method: We conducted a systematic review of the literature on instrumental and auditory-perceptual assessments. We searched the PubMed, Medline, Lilacs, Cochrane, and SciELO databases from October to November 2012. Summary of findings: We found 1,300 studies about the topic of interest published between 1990 and 2012. Of these, 56 studies focused on velopharyngeal physiology; 29 studies presented data on velopharyngeal physiology using at least 1 instrumental assessment and/or 1 auditory-perceptual assessment, and 12 studies associated the results of both types of assessments. Only 3 studies described in detail the analysis of both methods of evaluating velopharyngeal function; however, associations between these findings were not analyzed. Conclusion: We found few studies clearly addressing the criteria chosen to investigate velopharyngeal dysfunction and associations between videonasoendoscopy results and auditory-perceptual assessments.

Comparison of videonasoendoscopy and auditory-perceptual evaluation of speech in individuals with cleft lip/palate

Summary Introduction: The velopharyngeal sphincter (VPS) is a muscle belt located between the oropharynx and the nasopharynx. Investigations of velopharyngeal function should include an auditory-perceptual evaluation and at least 1 instrument-based evaluation such as videonasoendoscopy. Aim: To compare the findings of auditory-perceptual evaluation (hypernasality) and videonasoendoscopy (gap size) in individuals with cleft lip/palate. Method: This was a retrospective, cross-sectional study assessing 49 subjects, of both sexes, with cleft lip/palate followed up at the Otorhinolaryngology Service and the Speech Therapy outpatient clinic of Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre (HCPA). The results from the auditory-perceptual evaluation and the videonasoendoscopy test were compared with respect to the VPS gap size. Results: Subjects with moderate/severe hypernasality had more severe velopharyngeal closure impairment than those with a less severe condition. The interaction between hypernasality severity and the presence of other speech disorders (p = 0.035), whether compensatory and/or obligatory, increased the likelihood of having a moderate-to-large gap in the velopharyngeal closure. Conclusions: We observed an association between the findings of these 2 evaluation methods.

Voice challenge in transgender women: trans women self-perception of voice handicap as compared to gender perception of naïve listeners

Mailing address: Bárbara Niegia Garcia de Goulart Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul Rua Ramiro Barcelos, 2777, sala 307 CEP 90035-003 Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil E-mail: bngoulart@gmail.com ABSTRACT Purpose: to analyze the self-perception of transgender women’s voice handicap in comparison to the voices’ gender perception by naïve listeners. Methods: 31 transgender women, who were first submitted to vocal acoustic assessment and had their voices recorded to measure fundamental frequency and standard deviations, were eligible to the study. Next, they answered to the Voice Handicap Index protocol, from which, at the end of data collection, the most suited questions to the daily demands of this population were selected. Subsequently, 50 naïve blindfolded listeners were exposed to the recordings and had to identify the voices as males, females or undefined. Descriptive statistics were applied to speakers’ characteristics and the Spearman’s correlation coefficient was applied to the protocol scores and the speaker’s voice identifications. Results: the mean fundamental frequency found was 172.40 Hz (SD=4.8Hz) and one third of the transgender women reported being satisfied with their voices. A moderate positive significant correlation was found in voices considered as males, and strongly significant and negative in voices considered as females. For the voices considered undefined, however, no significant correlation was found. Conclusion: transgender women’s self-perception of voice handicap is directly related to naïve listeners’ perception of their voice gender.

Rehabilitation with cochlear implant in patient with harboyan syndrome.

Background Harboyan syndrome, defined as congenital corneal dystrophy associated with progressive sensorineural hearing loss, was first described by Harboyan in 1971. It is a hereditary disease manifested by eye lesions consistent with corneal endothelial dystrophy and progressive sensorineural hearing loss. There is bilateral symmetric progressive hearing loss, which may be either dominant or recessive. Objective To report a case of a patient with a diagnosis of Harboyan syndrome. Case Report A 25-year-old woman with profound bilateral sensorineural hearing loss, showing poor hearing performance while using a personal sound amplification device, underwent hearing rehabilitation with a cochlear implant. Conclusion Rehabilitation was imperative in this case. The cochlear implant has proven to be the best therapeutic option, providing the patient with a better quality of life.