Voice creating aspect after horizontal laryngectomy and chordectomy in patients with carcinoma of the larynx.

ABSTRACT

Voice quality was assessed in 55 patients with the laryngeal carcinoma. A quality of voice was examined in 18 patients before and after chordectomy and in 37 patients before and after supraglottic surgery. Subjective and objective spectrography methods were applied to evaluate dysphony. The larynx was examined by indirect larngoscopy and videolaryngostroboscopy (VLSS). Significant voice pathology was found in patients before surgery when compared with the normal group. A change of voice colour was found, which was manifested in spectrography by decreased in formant levels, especially F3 and F4 in patients after supraglottic surgery. Dysphagia and longer tracheostomy were temporary complications after the surgery and resulted in further phoniatric rehabilitation. Early phoniatric rehabilitation after chordectomy helped to achieve subjective and objective improvement of voice quality in patients after surgery. Good voice quality in patients after chordectomy is due to preserved structure and increased levels F1, F2, F3, and F4 formants in spectrography.