Voice quality after excision method of sulcus vocalis treatment.

PURPOSE: Sulcus vocalis leads to dysphonia, caused by glottic insufficiency. There are many treatment modalities for sulcus, one of which is excision method. Purpose of the study is to determine the functional results of excision treatment of vocal fold sulcus and whether association with other benign pathology on the vocal folds influence the final outcome of the voice quality.

METHODS

Retrospective analysis of 19 patients with sulcus vocalis treated by excision method. The pre- and postoperative evaluation of patients included voice data that were analyzed according to a standardized protocol.

RESULTS

There is significant difference in MPTA (maximum phonation time of a vowel /a/) preoperatively and postoperatively 8.89/11.36 (p = 0.011), MPTS (maximum phonation time of a vowel /s/) 11.48/14.49 (p = 0.001), MPTZ (maximum phonation time of a vowel /z/) 10.17/ 11.65 (p = 0.027), G (Gutzmann index) 1–2, 2–6, 3–11/1–10,2–9 (p = 0.001), VHI (voice handicap index) 59.42/ 39.11 (p = 0.001), but there is no difference in words on the exhale 15.26/16.95, Hz (fundamental voice frequency) 208.81/201.74, Jitter 1.85/2.28, Shimer 16.97/16.26, HNR (harmonic to noise ratio) 11.78/11.5.

CONCLUSION

The excisional method of sulcus vocalis treatment results in the improvement of certain aerodynamic parameters of the vocal function. However, one part of the observed parameters, including the voice frequency, does not show any changes, which means that the basic voice frequency before and after the intervention remains almost the same. The presence of another benign vocal fold pathology together with sulcus in the case of simultaneous surgical treatment does not affect the outcome of the applied surgical method itself.