Improved vocal quality and decreased vocal effort after botulinum toxin treatment for laryngeal dystonia.

OBJECTIVES: Laryngeal dystonia (LD) is characterized by irregular and involuntary task-specific spasms of the intrinsic laryngeal muscles. There is no curative treatment for it, however, laryngeal botulinum neurotoxin injections (BoNT-I) are considered the standard of care therapy. This study aims to characterize the population of LD patients and to assess the results of laryngeal BoNT-I. METHODS: A Retrospective cohort study was conducted. Medical records were reviewed for all the patients with LD diagnosis seen in the Voice Unit of the Red de Salud UCChristus between January 2013 and October 2021. Biodemographic, clinical and treatment data were collected. Additionally, a telephonic survey was completed by the patients that underwent laryngeal BoNT-I, including self-reported voice outcomes and Voice Handicap Index 10 (VHI-10). RESULTS: Of the 34 patients with LD included in the study, 23 received a total of 93 laryngeal BoNT-I and 19 completed the telephone survey. The majority (97%) of the injections corresponded to patients with adductor LD and 3% to abductor LD. Patients received a median of 3 (1-17) injections, with a more frequent cricothyroid approach (94.4%), while the thyrohyoid approach accounted for 5.6% of cases. Most injections were bilateral (96.8%). A significant improvement in the vocal quality and effort was noted after the last injection and the overall BoNT-I treatment (P < 0.001). Similarly, the VHI-10 score improved from a median of 31 (7-40) to 2 (0-19) (P < 0.001) after the last injection. A post-treatment breathy voice was reported in 95% of patients, and dysphagia to liquids and solids in 68% and 21%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Laryngeal BoNT-I is an effective treatment for LD, achieving an improvement in self-reported vocal quality and VHI-10 scores, and a reduction of the self-reported vocal effort. Adverse effects are mild in the majority of cases, constituting a safe and effective therapy for these patients.

Positive pressure therapy for Ménière’s disease. / Terapia con presión positiva para enfermedad de Ménière.

INTRODUCTION: Ménière's disease is a disorder of the inner ear characterized by episodes of spontaneous vertigo, fluctuating hearing loss and tinnitus. Positive pressure therapy has been used to reduce the intensity and frequency of episodes, but it is not clear whether it is actually effective. METHODS: We searched in Epistemonikos, the largest database of systematic reviews in health, which is maintained by screening multiple information sources, including MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane, among others. We extracted data from the systematic reviews, reanalyzed data of primary studies, conducted a meta-analysis and generated a summary of findings table using the GRADE approach. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: We identified five systematic reviews including 22 studies overall, of which five were randomized trials. We concluded positive pressure therapy probably leads to slightly worse hearing and makes little or no difference in the intensity of vertigo. In addition, we are uncertain whether positive pressure therapy improves functionality or decreases vertigo attacks as the certainty of the evidence has been assessed as very low.

INTRODUCCIÓN: La enfermedad de Ménière es una anomalía del oído interno caracterizada por episodios de vértigo espontáneo, hipoacusia fluctuante y tinnitus. La terapia con presión positiva ha sido utilizada para reducir la intensidad y la frecuencia de las crisis, pero existe controversia respecto a su eficacia. MÉTODOS: Para responder esta pregunta utilizamos Epistemonikos, la mayor base de datos de revisiones sistemáticas en salud, la cual es mantenida mediante búsquedas en múltiples fuentes de información, incluyendo MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane, entre otras. Extrajimos los datos desde las revisiones identificadas, reanalizamos los datos de los estudios primarios, realizamos un metanálisis y preparamos tablas de resumen de los resultados utilizando el método GRADE. RESULTADOS Y CONCLUSIONES: Identificamos cinco revisiones sistemáticas que en conjunto incluyeron 22 estudios primarios, de los cuales cinco corresponden a ensayos aleatorizados. Concluimos que la terapia de presión positiva probablemente empeora levemente la audición y no reduce la intensidad del vértigo. Además, no es posible establecer con claridad si la terapia de presión positiva mejora la funcionalidad o si disminuye la frecuencia de los ataques de vértigo, porque la certeza de la evidencia existente ha sido evaluada como muy baja.