Pneumoobstruction of the tracheobronchial tree as a hypothetical cause of balbuties.

The occurrence of balbuties is a common phenomenon. Balbuties is defined as frequent repetition and lengthening of syllables and words, alternatively frequent halting with pauses impairing the rhythmic flow of speech. Balbuties may have a negative influence upon the psychic as well as social development of an individual. Psychiatric co-morbidity of balbuties usually includes some other defects in behaviour, such as states of anxiety, depression, etc. The ethiology of balbuties has not yet been discovered, neither its casual therapy is possible. The phonating apparatus is formed by: the lungs with the trachea, the larynx, and the vocal tract. The source of the expired air flow is given by the expiring lungs. In balbuties the fatal defect probably results from a pneumoobstruction of the tracheobronchial tree in the peripheral respiratory passages. The present paper gives a hypothetical explanation of the cause.