Adductory spasmodic dysphonia is a focal dystonia of laryngeal muscles. Patients with this disorder typically have severe vocal difficulties, with significant functional, social, and emotional consequences. There is no widely accepted cure for this condition, however, botulinum toxin injections of the thyroarytenoid muscles are considered by most voice clinicians to be the state of the art trea...

The use of speech recognition systems as a replacement for other types of transcription systems is increasing rapidly, partly because many people are unable to use conventional keyboards as a result of upper-extremity repetitive strain injury (RSI). However, the frequent or continuous use of such systems can cause muscle tension dysphonia in some patients. The scientific literature suggests tha...

BACKGROUND Many studies have referred to the effects of age on voice and the consequences of these changes. However, only little is known about the adverse effects of voice changes on quality of life in the elderly. OBJECTIVE This study focuses on self-perception of voice in seniors as assessed by the Voice-Related Quality of Life (V-RQOL) questionnaire, on voice quality as measured by the Dy...

The purposes of this study were (1) to compare trained and untrained singers on the Dysphonia Severity Index (DSI) and its component measures, and (2) to contribute to normative DSI data for trained singers. This study included 36 untrained participants (15 males and 21 females) and 30 participants (15 males and 15 females) with singing experience between the ages of 18 and 30 years. Measures o...

Spasmodic Dysphonia (SD) patients (adductor type) are known to score very high on the Voice Handicap Index (VHI). 28 VHIanalyses were performed in patients diagnosed with spasmodic dysphonia (SD), before and after treatment with botulinum toxin. Patient’s voices were also analyzed perceptually and acoustically : 7 perceptual parameters (traditional and dedicated) were blindly rated by a panel o...

OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS In-office percutaneous injection laryngoplasty (IL) is a common treatment for glottal insufficiency. The objective of this prospective study was to determine if voice outcomes from IL are affected by age, gender, or initial disease severity. STUDY DESIGN Prospective case series. METHODS Consecutive adult patients undergoing awake injection laryngoplasty were recruited ...

BACKGROUND vocal quality and voice-related quality of life in elderly women AIM to assess the vocal quality and voice-related quality of life in elderly women, as well as verify if the presence of dysphonia has an influence on the life quality of these women. METHODS one hundred and three elderly women, with ages ranging from 60 to 103 years, were recruited. The V-RQOL was answered by the p...

Foreign body aspiration is unusual in adults, except those who are debilitated or have neuropsychiatric disorders. It can be a life-threatening situation and it often requires a high index of suspicion, because the diagnosis can be obscure. Prompt diagnosis and intervention through foreign body retrieval are critical to prevent significant morbidity and mortality. We present a case of denture a...

Spasmodic dysphonia is a primary focal dystonia characterized by involuntary spasms in the laryngeal muscles during speech production. The pathophysiology of spasmodic dysphonia is thought to involve structural and functional abnormalities in the basal ganglia-thalamo-cortical circuitry; however, neurochemical correlates underpinning these abnormalities as well as their relations to spasmodic d...