ABSTRACT
The use of prosthetic devices for correction of velopharyngeal insufficiency (VPI) is an alternative treatment for patients with conditions that preclude surgery and for those individuals with a hypofunctional velopharynx (HV) with a poor prognosis for the surgical repair of VPI. Understanding the role and measuring the outcome of prosthetic treatment of velopharyngeal dysfunction requires the use of tools that allow for documenting pre- and post-treatment outcomes. Experimental openings in speech bulbs have been used for simulating VPI in studies documenting changes in aerodynamic, acoustic and kinematics aspects of speech associated with the use of palatal prosthetic devices. The use of nasometry to document changes in speech associated with experimental openings in speech bulbs, however, has not been described in the literature. Objective: This single-subject study investigated nasalance and nasality at the presence of experimental openings drilled through the speech bulb of a patient with HV. Material and Methods: Nasometric recordings of the word "pato" were obtained under 4 velopharyngeal conditions: no-opening (control condition), no speech bulb, speech bulb with a 20 mm² opening, and speech bulb with 30 mm² opening. Five speech-language pathologists performed auditory-perceptual ratings while the subject read an oral passage under all conditions. Results: Kruskal-Wallis test showed significant difference among conditions (p=0.0002), with Scheffé post hoc test indicating difference from the no-opening condition. Conclusion: The changes in nasalance observed after drilling holes of known sizes in a speech bulb suggest that nasometry reflect changes in transfer of sound energy related to different sizes of velopharyngeal opening.
Subject(s)
Adolescent , Female , Humans , Cleft Palate/rehabilitation , Palatal Obturators , Palate , Speech/physiology , Velopharyngeal Insufficiency/rehabilitation , Cleft Palate/physiopathology , Nasal Cavity/physiopathology , Phonetics , Prosthesis Design/methods , Reference Values , Treatment Outcome , Velopharyngeal Insufficiency/physiopathology , Voice Quality/physiologyABSTRACT
TEMA: o controle do tamanho da abertura velofaríngea é uma variável importante na caracterização do perfil acústico da fala hipernasal. OBJETIVO: investigar os aspectos espectrais das frequências de F1, F2, F3, formante nasal(FN) e anti-formante, em Hertz, para as vogais [a] e [ã] na presença de aberturas feitas no bulbo de réplicas da prótese de palato de uma paciente com insuficiência velofaríngea. MÉTODO: gravações de produções de quatro palavras ("pato/mato" e "panto/manto") inseridas em frase veículo foram obtidas em cinco condições de funcionamento velofaríngeo: prótese sem aberturas (condição controle: CC), prótese com abertura de 10mm² no bulbo (condição experimental - CE10), com abertura de 20mm² (condição experimental - CE20), com abertura de 30mm² (condição experimental - CE30), e sem prótese (condição experimental aberta - CEA). Cinco fonoaudiólogos julgaram a nasalidade de fala ao vivo, durante a leitura de um texto oral. As gravações foram usadas para análise espectral. RESULTADOS: valores de F1 foram significativamente mais altos para [a] que para [ã] em todas as condições. Valores de F2 para [a] em CE20 e CE30 foram significantemente mais baixos que nas outras condições, aproximando-se dos valores para [ã]. Valores de F3 não foram significativamente diferentes nas diferentes condições. Houve relação entre os achados de FN e anti-formantes e a percepção de nasalidade para as condições CE10 e CE20. CONCLUSÃO: foram observadas mudanças significativas nos valores espectrais estudados de acordo com alterações no tamanho da abertura velofaríngea.
BACKGROUND: the size control of velopharyngeal opening is an important variable for the acoustic profile characterization of hypernasal speech. AIM: to investigate frequency spectral aspects of F1, F2, F3, nasal formant (FN) and anti-formant, in Hertz, for vowels [a] and 
at different velopharyngeal openings produced in the bulb of a palatal prosthesis replica used by a patient with velopharyngeal insufficiency. METHOD: speech recordings were obtained for four words ("pato/mato" and "panto/manto") produced within a carrier phrase in 5 conditions of velopharyngeal functioning: prosthesis with no openings (control condition: CC); prosthesis with bulb opening of 10mm² (experimental condition with 10mm² opening: EC10), prosthesis with a 20mm² opening (EC20), prosthesis with a 30mm² openning (EC30), and without the prosthesis (ECO). Five speech-language pathologists made a live rating of speech nasality during the reading of an oral passage. The recordings were used for spectral analysis. RESULTS: F1 values were significantly higher for [a] when compared to in all conditions. F2 values for [a] in EC20 and EC30 were significantly lower than values in the other conditions, being closer to the values presented for . F3 values were not significantly different between the testing conditions. There was a relationship between FN and anti-formants, and the auditory perception of nasality for conditions EC10 and EC20. CONCLUSION: significant changes were observed in the studied spectral values according to changes in the velopharyngeal opening size.