Mi-Ran Shim

Combination of Voice Therapy and Antireflux Therapy Rapidly Recovers Voice-Related Symptoms in Laryngopharyngeal Reflux Patients

Objective. Patients with laryngopharyngeal reflux frequently experience voice-related symptoms. This study was designed to investigate the effectiveness of combined voice and medical therapy in comparison with medical therapy alone in the improvement of voice-related symptoms and parameters in patients with laryngopharyngeal reflux. Study Design. Concurrent nonrandomized comparative trial. Setting. Otolaryngology department at a university hospital. Subjects and Methods. In this prospective study, 100 patients diagnosed with laryngopharyngeal reflux with voice symptoms were divided into 2 groups: 50 patients were treated with medication alone, and 50 were treated with medication plus voice therapy. The following data were recorded before treatment and at 1, 2, and 3 months posttreatment: reflux symptom index (RSI), reflux finding score (RFS), voice handicap index (VHI), perceptual analysis, and acoustic analysis. The numbers of patients showing clinically significant reductions in these parameters were compared between groups using the following cutoff values: change in RSI ≥5, change in RFS ≥3, change in VHI ≥15, and change in grade, roughness, breathiness, asthenia, and strain scale (GRBAS) ≥1. Results. Significantly more patients in the study group showed a clinically significant change in RSI, VHI, and GRBAS score at the 1-, 2-, and 3-month follow-up evaluations. No clinically significant change in RFS was achieved in either group at 1 or 2 months, but a significantly greater change was achieved in the study group at 3 months. Conclusions. Voice therapy may help to restore reversible mucosal change secondary to acidic reflux, inducing rapid resolution of symptoms and shortening of the treatment period.

How Can We Screen Voice Problems Effectively in Patients Undergoing Thyroid Surgery

BACKGROUND Voice problems following thyroid surgery are well known, and perioperative voice analysis in patients undergoing thyroidectomy no longer seems optional. However, multiple means of assessing vocal function are time-consuming, require specific instruments and specialists, and increase costs. Therefore, we designed this study to develop an efficient and cost-effective screening tool for detecting voice disorders following thyroidectomy. METHODS We developed the Perioperative Voice-Screening Protocol for Thyroid Surgery (PVST) using the Thyroidectomy-Related Voice Questionnaire (TVQ) to provide a cost-effective diagnostic flow chart for patients following thyroidectomy. The TVQ is a simple questionnaire that was developed at our institution and has already demonstrated its effectiveness in detecting pre- and postthyroidectomy voice-related disorders in our previous studies. To investigate the PVST, we enrolled 242 subjects who underwent thyroidectomy and let them follow the PVST. All subjects underwent a voice work-up by a voice specialist to verify the predictive value of the protocol. RESULTS Using PVST, we could effectively screen for abnormal preoperative laryngeal findings with sensitivity and specificity of 82.1% and 50.5%, respectively, especially laryngeal benign mucosal disease with sensitivity and specificity of 100% and 45.6%, respectively. We could also screen for postoperative voice-related problems with sensitivity and specificity of 100% and 50.4% for detecting vocal-cord palsy, and 66.7% and 51.2% for detecting a low-pitched voice, respectively. If all 242 patients followed the protocol, US

Multivariate Analysis of Risk Factors in the Development of a Lower-Pitched Voice After Thyroidectomy

42,768 would be saved, and the PVST was estimated to decrease costs by 43.5%. CONCLUSIONS The PVST is a reliable and cost-effective perioperative screening tool that enables thyroid surgeons to detect patients with voice problems in their routine outpatient clinic for early and appropriate referral to voice specialists.

Hypernasality after using the endoscopic endonasal transsphenoidal approach for skull base tumors

Objectives: Thyroid surgeons frequently encounter outpatients with mobile vocal cords complaining of lower-pitched voices following thyroidectomy. This study investigated the clinical and pathological parameters affecting voice pitch following thyroid surgery. Methods: We analyzed the data of 393 patients with mobile vocal cords and who also underwent thyroid surgery. Speaking fundamental frequency (SFF) and fundamental frequency (F0) were compared before and after surgery. Results: Approximately 26.7% of patients had significantly lowered SFFs (ΔSFF ≥ 12 Hz), and 30.2% exhibited significantly lower sustained vowel F0s (ΔF0 ≥ 12 Hz) following thyroid surgery. On multivariate analysis, only gender: female remained a significant predictor of a clinically significant change in SFF following thyroid surgery (P < .001). Gender: female and extent of surgery: total remained significant predictors of a clinically significant change in F0 after surgery (P = .006 and P = .007, respectively). Conclusions: Appreciable proportions of patients experience lower-pitched voice and related vocal symptoms early after thyroid surgery. Such problems develop more frequently in females who underwent total thyroidectomy.

Effects of Voice Therapy Using the Lip Trill Technique in Patients With Glottal Gap

The increasing number of endoscopic endonasal transsphenoidal approaches (EETSA) has resulted in several sinonasal complications, including voice changes. Here, we compared preoperative and postoperative voice changes according to age.

The usefulness of the transcricothyroid injection laryngoplasty via contralateral paramedian approach

OBJECTIVES Lip trills are widely used as a voice warm-up technique among singers. However, little is known about the effects of lip trills in cases of voice disorders. We examined the therapeutic effects of lip trills in patients with glottal gap. METHODS Patients with glottal gap were classified into three groups according to the type of gap: gap-only, gap with muscle tension dysphonia (MTD), and a sulcus vocalis group. Patients underwent perceptual, acoustic/aerodynamic analyses, stroboscopic evaluations, and subjective analyses using a questionnaire before and after lip trills. The results were analyzed before and after trills and according to and between the groups. RESULTS The results in 42 patients were analyzed. Most of the parameters were improved and glottal gap was significantly reduced after trills in all patients. In the gap-only group (n = 19), most of the parameters showed improvement and were within the respective normal ranges, and glottal gap was improved after trills. In the MTD group (n = 13), although many parameters were improved, the improvement was not as prominent as in the gap-only group. In the sulcus vocalis group (n = 10), only some of the parameters were improved and the improvement in glottal gap was limited. CONCLUSIONS Lip trills were an effective treatment for glottal gap. The therapeutic effect was prominent in the gap-only group, followed by the MTD and sulcus vocalis groups. Trills can be used as an adjuvant treatment option in voice therapy in cases of various voice disorders.

The Importance of Preoperative Laryngeal Examination Before Thyroidectomy and the Usefulness of a Voice Questionnaire in Screening

OBJECTIVE Several laryngeal injection techniques are technically difficult and have limitations. In this study, we modified a transcricothyroid approach for injections to enhance needle visualization during procedures. The objective of this study was to investigate the efficacy of this alternative injection technique. METHODS We performed a retrospective analysis of 51 patients who had undergone injection laryngoplasty for unilateral vocal paralysis between March 2014 and February 2015. In total, 17 patients underwent a transcricothyroid injection laryngoplasty via the contralateral paramedian approach (ILC) and 34 patients underwent transcricothyroid injection laryngoplasty via the conventional approach (ipsilateral approach, ILI). Acoustic analyses, aerodynamic analyses, voice handicap index (VHI), and GRBAS scale were assessed pre-operatively and at 2 weeks and 3 months postoperatively. RESULTS From our acoustic and aerodynamic analyses, jitter, shimmer, noise-to-harmonic ratio (NHR), maximum phonation time (MPT), and mean flow rate (MFR) were all significantly improved in both groups after injection. VHI and GRBAS scales also improved postoperation. There were no significant differences between the pre-operative and postoperative subjective and objective parameters between both groups. The total injection volume used on the ILI group was larger than the volume given to the ILC group. CONCLUSION The transcricothyroid injection laryngoplasty via the contralateral paramedian approach is potentially more beneficial to performing injection laryngoplasty under local anesthesia. One important advantage of this approach to conventional approaches is its enhanced visualization of the needle during procedures.