Managing dysphonia in paediatric patients with complex airway conditions.

OBJECTIVE: To suggest a phonosurgical management strategy that can be used for children who have previously undergone laryngotracheal reconstruction. METHODS: This cases series describes three children who presented with complex, multi-level airway stenosis and marked dysphonia. Phonosurgical intervention involved endoscopic and open approaches, and was combined with voice therapy. A phonosurgical reconstruction management algorithm is suggested for evaluating and treating these complex conditions. RESULTS: Pre-operative assessment is critical, and should involve voice analysis and glottal anatomy assessment using office laryngoscopy and stroboscopy. The risks must be weighed up against the benefit of vocal improvement. Surgical intervention should involve combined endoscopic and open approaches. CONCLUSION: Voice restoration after paediatric airway reconstruction is a complex challenge. Surgical intervention should be conducted in a step-by-step manner to reduce the risk of worsening dysphonia and airway compromise. The risks and benefits must be carefully explored and discussed.

Stroboscopic assessment of vocal fold keratosis and glottic cancer.

Disruption of the normal viscoelastic properties of the superficial lamina propria (SLP) results in aberrant vocal fold vibration and mucosal wave propagation. Therefore, an investigation was performed to determine whether stroboscopy is a reliable method for 1) differentiating invasive glottic carcinoma from intraepithelial atypia or 2) determining the depth of cancer invasion. An analysis was done on the preoperative vocal fold vibration characteristics of 62 keratotic (intraepithelial, 45; cancer, 17) lesions that were subsequently resected by means of microlaryngoscopy. Histopathology and intraoperative mapping were used to specify the depth of invasion. A panel of 4 blinded judges was used to assess the amplitude of vocal fold vibration and the magnitude of mucosal wave activity in the region of the lesion from videostroboscopic recordings. The final comparative data set comprised only those ratings that achieved at least 75% interjudge agreement. Of the 28 intraepithelial lesions that could be reliably evaluated for amplitude of vocal fold vibration, only 2 were normal, with the amplitude reduced in 24 and absent in 2. Of the 30 intraepithelial lesions in which mucosal wave activity could be reliably assessed, only 2 were normal, with the wave reduced in 24 and absent in 4. Furthermore, amplitude of vocal fold vibration and magnitude of mucosal wave propagation were absent in 2 of 4 carcinomas in which the depth of microinvasion did not reach the vocal ligament. According to the findings herein, reduced amplitude of vocal fold vibration and/or mucosal wave propagation associated with keratosis did not reliably predict the presence of cancer or the depth of cancer invasion into the laminae propriae. However, the presence of a flexible mucosal wave probably indicates that there is not extensive vocal ligament invasion. Reductions in the amplitude of vocal fold vibration and in mucosal wave magnitude were usually noted in intraepithelial atypia, despite the fact that there was no invasion into the SLP. The reduced epithelial pliability could be due to bulky keratosis and/or alteration of the SLP occurring as a result of inflammation or fibrovascular scarring.

Addressing children's oral health inequalities in Northern Ireland: a research-practice-community partnership initiative.

OBJECTIVE: Northern Ireland has a high prevalence of childhood dental caries, reflecting heavy consumption of cariogenic snack foods. To develop a policy to promote and facilitate healthier eating, researchers, practitioners, and the school community formed a partnership, together creating the Boost Better Breaks (BBB) school-based policy. The policy was developed with and supported by dieticians, health promotion officers, teachers, school meal advisors, and local suppliers of school milk. Eighty percent of primary schools and preschool groups within the Southern Health and Social Services Board are involved in the program, which permits the consumption of only milk and fruit at break time. METHODS: The authors assessed the effectiveness of the partnership using data from its first two years. RESULTS: Results of the first two years of evaluation are positive. Initial findings indicate that the program had a positive effect in increasing the mean number of sound teeth in children attending schools in areas in which socioeconomic conditions are poor. CONCLUSION: This initiative suggests that collaboration can facilitate improvement in children's dental health and that careful targeting of the policy to schools in poor areas has the potential to narrow disparities.

Montgomery Thyroplasty Implant for vocal fold immobility: phonatory outcomes.

Forty-three patients with a diagnosis of unilateral vocal fold immobility underwent thyroplasty type I with the Montgomery Thyroplasty Implant System. Preoperative and postoperative evaluations were completed by means of videostroboscopic, acoustic, and aerodynamic measures. Clinicians' perceptions of vocal quality and patients' satisfaction with the surgery and vocal quality were determined. Improvements after surgery were observed for glottal closure, vocal fold amplitude, mucosal wave activity, average intensity, maximum intensity range, maximum phonation time, glottal airflow, average sound pressure, and subglottal pressure. Average postsurgical fundamental frequency values fell within normal limits and did not display significant changes relative to presurgical values. The clinicians' perceptual evaluations indicated an improvement in voice quality for most patients. A majority of patients expressed satisfaction with the surgery and resulting voice quality. The results of the present study, in combination with the surgical advantages that have been described for the Montgomery Thyroplasty Implant System, support the view that this approach offers an attractive alternative for treating unilateral vocal fold immobility.

Cricothyroid subluxation: a new innovation for enhancing the voice with laryngoplastic phonosurgery.

Laryngoplastic phonosurgery has evolved to become a dominant treatment modality for paralytic dysphonia. Current surgical procedures have addressed primarily the position of the musculomembranous vocal fold and the arytenoid in the axial and vertical planes. However. dynamic range capabilities and vocal flexibility have been limited secondary to the flaccid, denervated vocal fold tissue. Therefore. a new procedure was conceived to enhance the acoustic vocal outcome from operations that reposition the vocal edge. Cricothyroid (CT) subluxation was designed as a technique to increase the distance between the cricoarytenoid joint and the insertion of the anterior commissure ligament. Cricothyroid subluxation was done without complication in 9 patients who underwent combined adduction arytenopexy and medialization laryngoplasty, and in 4 patients with medialization laryngoplasty alone. Postoperative stroboscopic assessment was done in all of the 13 patients, while complete analysis of vocal function was available in 10 of the 13 patients; this revealed improvement (as a group) on almost all objective measures over the preoperative state. All patients who underwent CT subluxation had a normal maximum frequency range (pitch variation of more than 2 octaves), as compared with 22% of a prior similar cohort of patients who did not undergo CT subluxation. All patients who underwent CT subluxation had normal glottal airflow and a normal noise-to-harmonics ratio. Cricothyroid subluxation is a relatively easily adjustable procedure that increases the length and viscoelastic tension of the denervated vocal fold. The modified biomechanical properties resulted in improved vocal outcome in all of our patients, which was most remarkable in terms of maximal range capabilities. Cricothyroid subluxation enhanced the postoperative voice of patients regardless of whether they required medialization laryngoplasty alone or whether they also required adduction arytenopexy.

Reinke's edema: phonatory mechanisms and management strategies.

Reinke's edema (RE) has been associated typically with smoking and sometimes with vocal abuse, but aspects of the pathophysiology of RE remain unclear. To gain new insights into phonatory mechanisms associated with RE pathophysiology, we used an integrated battery of objective vocal function tests to analyze 20 patients (19 women) who underwent phonomicrosurgical resection. Preoperative stroboscopic examinations demonstrated that the superficial lamina propria is distended primarily on the superior vocal fold surface. Acoustically, these individuals have an abnormally low average speaking fundamental frequency (123 Hz), and they generate abnormally high average subglottal pressures (9.7 cm H2O). The presence of elevated aerodynamic driving pressures reflects difficulties in producing vocal fold vibration that are most likely the result of mass loading associated with RE, and possibly vocal hyperfunction. Furthermore, it is hypothesized that in the environment of chronic glottal mucositis secondary to smoking and reflux, the cephalad force on the vocal folds by the subglottal driving pressure contributes to the superior distention of the superficial lamina propria. Surgical reduction of the volume of the superficial lamina propria resulted in a significant elevation in fundamental frequency (154 Hz) and improvement in perturbation measures. In almost all instances, both the clinician and the patient perceived the voice as improved. However, these patients continued to generate elevated subglottal pressure (probably a sign of persistent hyperfunction) that was accompanied by visually observed supraglottal strain despite the normal-sized vocal folds. This finding suggests that persistent hyperfunctional vocal behaviors may contribute to postsurgical RE recurrence if therapeutic strategies are not instituted to modify such behavior.