The Nature and Risk Factors of Minimal Associated Pathological Lesions of Vocal Folds at Two Hospitals in the Gulf Area.

OBJECTIVE: To identify the possible risk factors related to etiology of the minimal associated pathological lesions (MAPLs) of the vocal folds and their impacts on the recurrence of lesion. METHODS: This analytical cross-sectional study included 200 subjects presented with dysphonia to the Phoniatrics/Voice Clinics in two hospitals in Gulf region (KSA and UAE). Same number of matched voluntaires from the same hospitals (hospital staffs, employees and their relatives) and relatives of subjects with typical voice quality were included as well. Both groups underwent a simple questionnaire consists of 15 items related to previously accused risk factors of MAPLs. RESULTS: The bivariant analysis by Fisher's exact test showed that male gender, presence of kids, misuse of voice, alcohol, gastroesophageal reflux diseases and voice handicapping are associated with significant risk to have MAPLs with P values < 0.001 for all except for alcohol (P = 0.015). Welch's t test revealed higher smoking index in subject than control groups with significant difference (P < 0.001). In contrast, spices, family shouting and nearby industry were not potent risk factors in our study group. CONCLUSION: Vocal trauma especially in females and children is a potent risk factor for vocal fold nodules and cysts. The gastroesophageal reflux is a suggested risk factor for Reinke's edema and contact granuloma. Smoking is the risk factor for MAPLs particularly polyp, contact granuloma, and Reinke's edema. Also, alcohol consumption is a possible risk factors for Reinke's edema. Identification of risk factors of the MAPLs is an important step in planning therapy. Risk factors which are highly related to a specific type of MAPLs should be involved in any planned program for protection, voice rehabilitation and/or prevention of recurrence of that lesion.

Congenital laryngomalacia: Is it an inflammatory disease? The role of vitamin D.

OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: Laryngomalacia is the most common cause of stridor in infants. The exact pathophysiology is still not well understood. Our objective was to investigate whether laryngomalacia is an inflammatory disease, focusing on the possible role of vitamin D. STUDY DESIGN: Case-control study. METHODS: Sixty Egyptian infants and 60 mothers were included in this study. They were divided into four equal groups (n = 30 for each): infants with laryngomalacia (LM-infants), control infants (C-infants), mothers of the infants with laryngomalacia (LM-mothers), and mothers of the control infants (C-mothers). Laryngoscopy was performed and serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]-vitamin-D) and interleukin 6 (IL-6) were estimated. RESULTS: Significant increase of serum IL-6 associated with a significant decrease in serum 25(OH)-vitamin D was observed in the LM-infants compared to the C-infants (P < .001 for both). LM-mothers had significantly lower 25(OH)-vitamin D status compared to C-mothers (P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: Deficiency of 25(OH)-vitamin D in LM-infants may result in dysregulation of the immune responses with elevation of a proinflammatory cytokine (IL-6). Laryngomalacia could be an inflammatory disease due to 25(OH)-vitamin D deficiency as evidenced by the high level of IL-6. This finding may open the door to the appropriate prevention, diagnosis, and treatment, especially for moderate to severe laryngomalacia. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 3b Laryngoscope, 130:448-453, 2020.

Evaluation of dysphagia in different phenotypes of early and idiopathic Parkinsonism.

BACKGROUND: Parkinsonism (PD) is a common neurodegenerative disorders into which dysphagia occurs mainly in the late stage and to a lesser extent in an early stage. Diagnosis of dysphagia particularly in early idiopathic Parkinson's disease (IPD) is important as dysphagia affects the quality of life of patients and most of the patients are unaware of this important symptom. METHOD: Fifty-four patients were enrolled in this study presented with early IPD attending to the outpatient clinic of Sohag University Hospital. All PD patients were assessed by using Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) and modified Hoehn and Yahr scale. IPD patients were classified into tremor dominant (TD) and postural instability/gait disorder (PIGD) phenotypes. Swallowing disturbance questionnaire (SDQ) and fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES) were used to evaluate dysphagia. RESULTS: Thirty-five percent of patients experienced dysphagia when the patients were questioned, and this percent rises to 40% on using FEES. The results of SDQ were significantly correlated to the results of more accurate FEES. The percentage of dysphagia was higher in patients with PIGD than TD phenotype. Dysphagia was significantly associated with the mean of the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), UPDRS, and modified Hoehn and Yahr scale. CONCLUSIONS: Dysphagia is a prevalent symptom in early IPD and significantly correlated with Parkinsonism phenotype, UPDRS, and modified Hoehn and Yahr scale.

Is insufficient pulmonary air support the cause of dysphonia in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease?

OBJECTIVE: Optimal pulmonary air support is essential pre-requisite for efficient phonation. The objective is to correlate pulmonary and vocal functions in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) to find out whether the reduced pulmonary function per se could induce dysphonia. METHODS: In this prospective case-control study, sixty subjects with stable COPD underwent evaluation of pulmonary and vocal functions. The pulmonary functions measured include {Forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1), FEV1/FVC ratio, peak expiratory flow (PEF), maximum mid-expiratory flow (MMEF)}. The vocal functions were {jitter, shimmer, noise-to-harmonic ratio, pitch perturbation quotient, amplitude perturbation quotient, maximum phonation time (MPT), sound pressure level, phonatory efficiency, resistance and power. A control group (n=35) underwent the same measurements. These functions were compared between subjects and controls. Also, correlation of the vocal and pulmonary functions was conducted. RESULTS: Thirty five (58.3%) of COPD subjects have dysphonia. The pulmonary functions were lower in all COPD group than in the control group (P<0.001 for all parameters). Also, the FVC, FEV1, PEF and MMEF % of predicted values were significantly lower in subjects with dysphonia (n=35) than those without dysphonia (n=25) with P values 0.0018, <0.001, 0.0011 and 0.0026 respectively. In addition, the MPT in all subjects showed positive correlations to the 5 pulmonary functions (P=0.004 for FEV1/FVC ratio and P<0.001 for the rest). Also, the phonatory efficiency showed significant positive correlations with the pulmonary functions FVC, FEV1, PEF and MMEF (P=0.001, 0.001, 0.002 and 0.001 respectively). Unlike efficiency, the phonatory resistance revealed significant negative correlations with these pulmonary functions in the same order (P=0.001, 0.003, 0.002, 0.001 respectively). CONCLUSION: Dysphonia is a common comorbidity with COPD which attributed to multifactorial etiologies. The lower the pulmonary function in COPD patients is the more likely to have dysphonia. Decreased pulmonary function was associated with reduced MPT and phonatory efficiency but with increased phonatory resistance. The reduced pulmonary functions in COPD can be the underlying cause of the altered vocal function and dysphonia. Great part of this dysphonia is functional, and hence, can be corrected by voice therapy in compensated subjects. Further researches are needed to evaluate the efficacy of voice therapy in these patients.

Arytenoid adduction with nerve-muscle pedicle transfer vs arytenoid adduction with and without type I thyroplasty in paralytic dysphonia.

IMPORTANCE: Optimal glottal closure as well as symmetrical vocal fold masses and tensions are essential prerequisites for normal voice production. Successful phonosurgery depends on restoring these prerequisites to achieve long-term improvement. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy of the laryngeal framework surgical treatments (arytenoid adduction with and without thyroplasty type I [AA ± Th-I]) compared with arytenoid adduction combined with nerve-muscle pedicle flap transfer (AA + NMP) in unilateral vocal fold paralysis. Patterns of voice outcome were compared over a 2-year period. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Retrospective review of clinical records of 22 patients who presented to an institutional practice with severe paralytic dysphonia between March 1999 and December 2008, who received 2 different treatments. Postoperative follow-up was conducted over 2 years. INTERVENTIONS: Eleven patients were treated with AA ± Th-I and 11 patients were treated with AA + NMP. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Vocal function was evaluated preoperatively and at 3, 12, and 24 months postoperatively. Vocal parameters evaluated were jitter, shimmer, harmonics to noise ratio (HNR), maximum phonation time (MPT), and overall grade and breathiness grade of the Grade-Roughness-Breathiness-Asthenia-Strain (GRBAS) voice scale. The outcomes of voice measurements were compared within each group across time and among the 2 groups at each time point. RESULTS: All voice parameters showed initial postoperative improvement in both groups after 3 months. Moreover, the AA + NMP group showed significant steady improvement over the 2-year follow-up, which did not occur in the AA ± Th-I group. In the AA + NMP group, MPT increased from a mean (SD) of 5.4 (2.1) s at preoperative assessment to 21.5 (7.0) s at 24 months; jitter decreased from 8.6% (5.3%) to 1.2% (0.7%); shimmer decreased from 13.1% (6.0%) to 4.0% (1.6%); HNR increased from 3.8 (3.3) to 9.0 (0.8); overall grade of GRBAS decreased from 2.4 (0.9) to 0.2 (0.4); and breathiness grade of GRBAS decreased from 2.0 (1.0) to 0.1 (0.3). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Unlike the conventional laryngeal framework surgical treatments, AA + NMP provided long-term voice improvement with nearly normal voice quality. Thus, it can be considered an effective surgical treatment for paralytic dysphonia due to unilateral vocal fold paralysis associated with large glottal gap.

Vocal outcome after arytenoid adduction and ansa cervicalis transfer.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the long-term efficacy of arytenoid adduction (AA) combined with ansa cervicalis-recurrent laryngeal nerve anastomosis (ACN-RLN) in the treatment of unilateral vocal fold paralysis. DESIGN: Retrospective review of clinical records. SETTING: Institutional practice. PATIENTS: Nine patients with severe paralytic dysphonia with large glottal gap were included. Voice outcome was followed up over 24 months postoperatively. One patient did not attend the 24-month evaluation. INTERVENTIONS: All patients underwent AA + ACN-RLN. The ansa cervicalis nerve to the sternohyoid muscle was used as the donor nerve. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Maximum phonation time (MPT), pitch range, harmonics-to-noise ratio (HNR), and perceptual voice quality were evaluated preoperatively and postoperatively at 1 to 3 months, 6 to 8 months, 12 to 14 months, and 24 months. RESULTS: All parameters improved significantly after surgery and continued to improve over the 24-month period. The MPT continued to improve over time (P = .01, P = .006, and P = .001 when comparing the 1- to 3-month evaluation with the 6- to 8-month, 12- to 14-month, and 24-month evaluations, respectively). Also, pitch range and HNR showed significant, steady improvement over the 24-month duration of the study. Perceptual voice quality markedly improved at 24 months compared with the 1- to 3-month, 6- to 8-month, and 12- to 14-month follow-ups (P = .004, P = .005, and P = .02, respectively, for grade overall, and P = .004, P = .008, and P = .02, respectively, for breathiness grade). CONCLUSIONS: Treatment with AA + ACN-RLN provides near-normal vocal function in the 24-month follow-up. Therefore, this method could be a successful surgical treatment for severe paralytic dysphonia.

Arytenoid rotation and nerve-muscle pedicle transfer in paralytic dysphonia.

OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: Our objective was to evaluate the efficacy of modified nerve-muscle pedicle (NMP) flap transfer combined with arytenoid adduction (AA) (AA + modified NMP) for treatment of unilateral vocal fold paralysis. The patterns of voice outcome assessed using phonatory function tests and auditory perceptual judgments were followed-up for 2 years. STUDY DESIGN: Prospective study. METHODS: Thirteen subjects among those presented with paralytic dysphonia between March 2002 and December 2008 were treated with AA + modified NMP. The voice outcomes (six objective and two subjective voice parameters) were evaluated preoperatively and in four different time points postoperatively over 2-years duration. RESULTS: All voice parameters showed initial postoperative improvement. Moreover, five parameters showed significant continuous improvement over the 2-year follow-up (maximum phonation time, pitch range, shimmer, and grade overall and breathiness of the grade-roughness-breathiness-asthenia-strain scale (GRBAS), whereas two parameters revealed continuous improvement over the first 12 to 14 months after surgery (mean flow rate and harmonics-to-noise ratio). CONCLUSIONS: AA + modified NMP improves both short- and long-term voice outcomes in unilateral vocal fold paralysis patients. Therefore, AA + modified NMP is an effective surgical combination for the treatment of severe paralytic dysphonia.