ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: The aerophonoscope allows for recording buccal and nasal airflow during breathing and speech and the sounds emitted by the patient. It is known to be useful in the postoperative follow-up of cleft lip and palate children, but there are currently no studies that quantitatively validate its reliability in pathological or non-pathological situations. The aim of our study was to measure the reliability of aerophonoscopic measures in adult healthy volunteers. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A quantitative evaluation of the reliability of aerophonoscopy has been carried out in 30 healthy adult volunteers by measuring its inter- and intra-individual reproducibility and its sensibility in relation with the degree of the velopharyngeal sphincter constriction using a test-retest protocol. RESULTS: The aerophonoscope allows for inter- and intra-individual reproducible measures in healthy adult volunteers. Its sensibility to velopharyngeal sphincter constriction is good in healthy adult volunteers. DISCUSSION: The interest of aerophonoscopy in the treatment strategy of cleft lip and palate patients remains unclear. More reliable quantitative data would be of major interest to determine whether this device is suitable for the follow-up of cleft lips and palate patients or not. This would also allow for planning a second soft-palate operation and for assessing the efficacy of revision surgery such as superior or inferior pedicled pharyngoplasty.
