Young Ae Kang

Pure Apraxia of Speech - A Case Report -

Apraxia of speech (AOS) is the impairment of motor programming. However, the exact nature of this deficit remains unclear. In particular, AOS without other speech-language deficit is called pure AOS, but it is very rare. When diagnosing AOS, the characteristic of articulation is considered a crucial criterion, which has been proposed for differentiating AOS from phonological and dysarthric disorders. The present study reports on pure AOS in a 37-year-old right-handed male after a left insular, front, temporal infarction. This report may be useful for further AOS study and diagnosis in the clinical setting.

Detection of voice changes due to aspiration via acoustic voice analysis

OBJECTIVE Aspiration can occur during swallowing. The present study investigated the feasibility of identifying aspiration risk (AR) via acoustic voice parameters. MATERIALS AND METHODS In total, 165 patients scheduled for a videofluoroscopic swallowing study (VFSS) were included. The patients were divided into two groups (AR and non-AR) based on their VFSS results. The AR group, which had ingested materials on or below the vocal folds, included 59 patients (42 males and 17 females). The non-AR group, which showed normal swallowing, included 106 patients (49 males and 57 females). The major cause of swallowing disorders was a stroke. A sustained vowel/a/for at least 3s was recorded before and after swallowing. Eight acoustic voice parameters were measured using PRAAT, including fundamental frequency, standard deviation of F0, jitter, relative average perturbation (RAP), shimmer, amplitude perturbation quotient (APQ), harmonic-to-noise ratio (HNR), and noise-to-harmonic ratio (NHR). Changes in each acoustic voice parameter before and after the VFSS were compared between the two groups with a repeated-measures mixed analysis of variance. RESULTS Only RAP showed a statistically significant interaction between group (non-AR and AR) and time (pre- and post-swallowing; p=0.030). RAP decreased after swallowing in the AR group; however, it increased in the non-AR group. Jitter and NHR increased in the non-AR group but decreased in the AR group after swallowing, but the difference was not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS Our results suggest that the accumulation of pasty food in the vocal folds may modify vocal fold vibration and change voice quality in patients with penetration/aspiration. Several acoustic voice parameters, especially jitter, RAP, and NHR, were affected by AR. Thus, acoustic voice analysis may be helpful in making a diagnosis of AR as a supplementary tool for standard swallowing study including VFSS or fiberoptic examination.

Acoustic Analysis of Voice Change According to Extent of Thyroidectomy

Voice complication without the laryngeal nerve injury can occur after thyroidectomy. The purpose of this study is to investigate voice changes according to extent of thyroidectomy with acoustic analysis. Thirty-five female patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma took voice evaluation at before and 1 month, and 3 months after thyroidectomy. Acoustic analysis parameters were speaking fundamental frequency(SFF), min , max , dynamic range , jitter, shimmer, noise-to-harmonic ratio(NHR), and Cepstral prominence peak(CPP). Repeated-measured analysis of variance was applied. Time-related voice changes showed significant differences in all parameters except NHR. At 1 month after surgery, voice quality was worse and pitch was decreasing, but voice quality and pitch were improving at 3-month follow-up. Voice changes according to the extent of surgery were in SFF, max , and dynamic range . Time by surgery-related voice change existed only in min . The result showed that the severity of voice complication depended on the extend of thyroidectomy which had a negative impact on -related parameters. The deterioration of voice quality at 1 month after thyroidectomy may be affected by the loss of thyroid hormone in the blood. The descent of -related parameters may be impacted by laryngeal fixation of surgical site adhesion.

The effects of uvulopalatal flap operation on speech nasalance and the acoustic parameters of the final nasal consonants

OBJECTIVE The acoustic characteristics of voice are determined by the source of the sound and shape of the vocal tract. Various anatomical changes after uvulopalatal flap (UPF) operation can change nasalance and/or other voice characteristics. Our aim was to explore the possible effects of UPF creation on speech nasalance and the resonatory features of the final nasal consonants, and thus voice characteristics. METHODS A total of 30 patients (26 males, 4 females) with obstructive sleep apnea who underwent UPF operation were recruited. A Nasometer II 3.4 instrument was used to assess nasalance pre- and post-operatively; the patients read standard Korean passages and the readings were recorded in Computer Speech Laboratory for later spectral analysis. Praat software was used to identify frequency bands affecting perioperative nasalance scores. Minima, maxima, and slopes were analyzed. RESULTS We found no significant correlation between nasalance scores (any passage) and the respiratory distress index or body mass index. No significant perioperative change in any nasalance score. The moment variations in the final consonants /m/ and /n/ did not change significantly postoperatively. However, the postoperative moment variation of the final consonant /ng/ differed significantly in the third formant (F3) and second bandwidth (BW2). CONCLUSION Few significant changes in nasal resonance speech quality were apparent after UPF operation. However, a postoperative acoustic change in the final sound /ng/ may be sustained. Patients may be preoperatively advised that the risk of voice change is very low, but not absent.

A Study of depression symptom in patients with voice disorders

The objectives of this study are to research the frequency of depression symptom in patients with voice disorders and to investigate parameters associated with depression from voice evaluation. A hundred ninety six patients(106 males and 90 females) who had been diagnosed with voice disorders first in their lifetime were selected. All the patients were examined by laryngeal stroboscopy. For depression and voice study, personal interview, acoustic and aerodynamic analysis, voice handicap index(VHI), reflux symptom index(RSI), and beck depression index(BDI) were done respectively. Mild to severe BDI were seen in 26.2%(52 patients) of the whole patients. A BDI mean score of female patients was which was higher than that of male patients(), the difference observed being statistically significant(p