engleski

The Voice with the Polyp Six Years after Phonosurgery

Repeated trauma of vocal folds from misuse or overuse frequently leads to the development of nodules, polyps or cysts. In nodules and polyps there is an abnormal pattern of fibronectin deposition within the superficial layer of the lamina propria, The basement membrane zone of the overlying mucosa is thickened in nodules and thinned in polyps. The aim of the present investigation was to evaluate the acoustic parameters, perceptual estimation and selfestimation of the voice before and one month and six years after surgical removal of a vocal fold polyp. Subjects were 10 male patients who visited the Phoniatric Clinic because of breathiness. For all patients a polyp of one vocal fold was diagnosed. The operation was done by cold instruments based on the principles of contemporary phonosurgery aiming maximally at preserving the phonatory bridge of the vocal fold. The subjects were recorded in a sound-proof booth three times: before surgery, one month and six years after the operation. The patients read a short tale and they pronounced a sustained vowel /a/. The following variables were measured: clinical (the distance of the polyp from the anterior commissure, the width of the polyp base and the size of the polyp) and acoustic (Fo, jitter, shimmer, harmonic-to-noise ratio, voice turbulence index, degree of voice braeks and long term average spectrum). Acoustic variables were measured by means of MDVP program while the estimation of the voice quality was done by means of GRBAS scale and selfestimation questioner of the voice quality answered by the patients. The significance of the difference of the average values of the chosen variables for preoperative and postoperative phonation was tested by means of a paired samples t-test. The results showed significant improvement of investigated variables and better patient’ s care about health of their voice after the surgery.

voice quality ; polyp ; phonosurgery

nije evidentirano