ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Cleft lip and palate (CLP) is the most common craniofacial anomaly. CLP affects resonance, voice and speech. Besides the most frequently reported resonance and speech disorders, several reports have addressed acoustic abnormalities in the voice of patients with CLP. However, there are just a few reports focusing on vocal treatment in this population. OBJECTIVE: To study whether a Speech and Language Pathology (SLP) intervention including vocal rehabilitation for children with CLP and velopharyngeal insufficiency (VPI) provides significant improvement of abnormal acoustic parameters of voice. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Fifteen children with cleft lip and palate (CLP) and velopharyngeal insufficiency (VPI) were studied. Age ranged 4-5 years. A matched control group of children without craniofacial anomalies and adequate speech, resonance and voice was assembled. All children underwent acoustic analysis of voice at the onset and at the end of SLP intervention including vocal rehabilitation. RESULTS: Hypernasality persisted unchanged following SLP intervention. Mean Fundamental Frequency (F0) did not demonstrate a significant difference between the control and the active groups. At the onset of the intervention mean shimmer and jitter were significantly higher in all patients with CLP as compared to controls. At the end of the intervention shimmer and jitter significantly decreased in patients with CLP showing no differences as compared to controls. CONCLUSION: SLP intervention including vocal rehabilitation improves abnormal acoustic parameters of voice. Besides surgical treatment for VPI the SLP intervention in children with CLP should also address vocal rehabilitation.
Subject(s)
Cleft Lip/complications , Cleft Palate/complications , Speech Acoustics , Voice Disorders/rehabilitation , Voice Quality , Child, Preschool , Cleft Lip/surgery , Cleft Palate/surgery , Female , Humans , Male , Velopharyngeal Insufficiency/complications , Velopharyngeal Insufficiency/surgery , Voice Disorders/etiologyABSTRACT
BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Spinocerebellar ataxia type 7 (SCA7) is an inherited neurodegenerative disease caused by the expansion of a cytosine-adenine-guanine triplet located in the coding region of the ATXN7 gene, which is characterized by cerebellar ataxia, pigmentary macular degeneration, and dysarthria. Although dysarthria is a common feature in various SCA, its clinical characterization has been barely approached. PATIENTS/METHODS: In this study, we report, to our knowledge for the first time, a detailed voice analysis in a large series of patients with SCA7, using different vocal parameters, including jitter, shimmer, and fundamental frequency. Patients were molecularly diagnosed using fluorescent-based polymerase chain reaction and capillary electrophoresis, and clinically characterized using the Scale for the Assessment and Rating of Ataxia and the Inventory of Non-Ataxia Symptoms. RESULTS: We found altered jitter, shimmer, and fundamental frequency measurements in patients with SCA7 compared with control subjects (P < 0.05). However, voice impairment was found unrelated with both age at disease onset and size of the cytosine-adenine-guanine triplet tract. Remarkably, jitter and shimmer measurements of patients were found to correlate with their Inventory of Non-Ataxia Symptoms, but not with their Scale for the Assessment and Rating of Ataxia scores, implying that voice impairment is the result of extra-cerebellar manifestations of the disease. CONCLUSIONS: We propose that deficiency of the extra-cerebellar component of SCA7 might lead to sudden changes in laryngeal muscle tone, producing instability in sustained vowel phonation. Clinical characterization of voice will help to discriminate SCA7 from other SCA and to guide vocal therapy treatments.
Subject(s)
Ataxin-7/genetics , Laryngeal Muscles/innervation , Mutation , Phonation , Speech Acoustics , Spinocerebellar Ataxias/complications , Voice Disorders/etiology , Voice Quality , Acoustics , Adult , Aged , Case-Control Studies , DNA Mutational Analysis , Female , Genetic Predisposition to Disease , Humans , Male , Mexico , Middle Aged , Phenotype , Speech Production Measurement , Spinocerebellar Ataxias/diagnosis , Spinocerebellar Ataxias/genetics , Voice Disorders/diagnosis , Voice Disorders/physiopathologyABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Although electrical stimulation of the larynx has been widely studied for treating voice disorders, its effectiveness has not been assessed under safety and comfortable conditions. This article describes design, theoretical issues, and preliminary evaluation of an innovative system for transdermal electrical stimulation of the larynx. The proposed design includes synchronization of electrical stimuli with laryngeal neuromuscular activity. OBJECTIVE: To study whether synchronous electrical stimulation of the larynx could be helpful for improving voice quality in patients with dysphonia due to unilateral recurrent laryngeal nerve paralysis (URLNP). MATERIALS AND METHODS: A 3-year prospective study was carried out at the Instituto Nacional de Rehabilitacion in the Mexico City. Ten patients were subjected to transdermal current electrical stimulation synchronized with the fundamental frequency of the vibration of the vocal folds during phonation. The stimulation was triggered during the phase of maximum glottal occlusion. A complete acoustic voice analysis was performed before and after the period of electrical stimulation. RESULTS: Acoustic analysis revealed significant improvements in all parameters after the stimulation period. CONCLUSION: Transdermal synchronous electrical stimulation of vocal folds seems to be a safe and reliable procedure for enhancing voice quality in patients with (URLNP).
