Videokymographic Visualization of Phonasthenia: A Nonorganic Voice Disorder.

Background: Phonasthenia is a voice disorder where the larynx looks essentially normal and dysphonia is not heard but felt by the patient. This study aims to use videokymography (VKG) to detect any abnormalities in the vibratory pattern in phonasthenia and to find out whether or not these abnormalities change after vocal loading.

Methods: Thirty-seven phonasthenic patients and 31 normal subjects participated in a detailed protocol, including analysis of subjective complaints and videokymographic quasi-objective parameters (baseline) followed by loading their voices through prolonged loud reading for 45 min.

Vitamin D status and scholastic achievement in middle age childhood.

Non-classical effects of vitamin D are not surprising in that many tissues, including neurons, possess vitamin D receptors. Thirty school aged children with delayed scholastic achievement and 15 normal ones were enrolled in the current study to identify the serum 25-hydroxy vitamin D [25(OH) D] status in school aged children in relation to their scholastic achievement. Besides estimation of serum 25(OH) D levels, neuro-developmental assessment was done using the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC) and the Benton's Visual Retention Test (BVRT).

Language skills and intelligence quotient of protein energy malnutrition survivors.

The study was conducted on 33 children aged 3-6 years who suffered from protein energy malnutrition (PEM) during infancy in comparison to 30 matching children to assess the long-term deficits in cognition and language skills. The patients' files were revised to record their admission and follow-up data and history, clinical examination, intelligence quotient and language assessment were done. The study revealed that 2-5 years from the acute attack the PEM patients were still shorter than the controls and their cognitive abilities were poorer.