Effects of Injection Laryngoplasty with Hyaluronic Acid in Patients with Vocal Fold Paralysis

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of injection laryngoplasty (IL) with hyaluronic acid in patients with vocal fold paralysis (VFP). METHODS: A total of 50 patients with VFP participated in this study. Pre- and post-IL assessments were performed, which included analyzing the sustained vowel /a/ phonation, and the patient reading 1 Korean sentence from the “Walk” passage that comprised 25 syllables in 10 words. To investigate the effect of IL on vocal fold function, acoustic analysis (acoustic voice quality index, cepstral peak prominence, maximum phonation time, speaking fundamental frequency) was conducted and auditory-perceptual (grade and overall severity), visual judgment (gap), and self-questionnaire (voice handicap index-10) assessments were performed. RESULTS: The patients with VFP showed statistically significant differences between pre-and post-IL assessments for acoustic and auditory-perception, visual judgment, and self-questionnaire assessments. CONCLUSION: The patients with VFP showed positive change in vocal fold function between pre- and post-IL measurements. The findings showed that IL with hyaluronic acid is an effective method to improve vocal fold function in patients with VFP.

Auditory-Perceptual and Acoustic Evaluation in Measuring Dysphonia Severity of Vocal Cord Paralysis

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to investigate the criterion-related concurrent validity of two standardized auditory-perceptual assessments and the Acoustic Voice Quality Index (AVQI) for measuring dysphonia severity in patients with vocal cord paralysis (VCP). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Total 210 patients with VCP and 236 normal voice subjects were asked to sustain the vowel [a:] and to read aloud the Korean text “Walk”. A 2 second mid-vowel portion of the sustained vowel and two sentences (with 26 syllables) were recorded. And then voice samples were edited, concatenated, and analyzed according to Praat script. Two standardized auditory-perceptual assessment (GRBAS and CAPE-V) were performed by three raters. RESULTS: The VCP group showed higher AVQI, Grade (G) and Overall Severity (OS) values than normal voice group. And the correlation among AVQI, G, and OS ranged from 0.904 to 0.926. In ROC curve analysis, cutoff values of AVQI, G, and OS were < 3.79, < 0.00, and < 30.00, respectively, and the AUC of each analysis was over .89. CONCLUSION: AVQI and auditory evaluation can improve the early screening ability of VCP voice and help to establish effective diagnosis and treatment plan for VCP-related dysphonia.