Quantification of dysarthrοphonia in a Cypriot family with autosomal recessive hereditary spastic paraplegia associated with a homozygous SPG11 mutation.

BACKGROUND

Dysarthrophonia is often reported by hereditary spastic paraplegia (HSP) patients with SPG11 mutations but it has been poorly investigated.

OBJECTIVE

The goal of this study was to investigate dysarthrophonia in SPG11 patients using quantitative measures. The voice/speech of two patients and a non-affected mutation carrier was recorded and analyzed using electroglottography (EGG) and speech acoustics.

RESULTS

Dysarthrophonia showed a higher standard deviation of the average fundamental frequency, a three to eight times higher jitter, a 80-110 Hz higher mean fundamental frequency, and a two times higher fundamental frequency range. Diadochokinesis showed a pattern of a two to three times increase in the mean duration of the release burst of the phonemes /p/, /t/, /k/ as well as a 1.5 time increase in the mean vowel duration of the syllables /pa/, /ta/, /ka/.

CONCLUSION

Non-invasive physiological methods (EGG and speech acoustics) offer essential tools for the assessment of dysarthrophonia in SPG11 patients.