Botulinum Toxin Therapy: A Series of Clinical Studies on Patients with Spasmodic Dysphonia in Japan.

Spasmodic dysphonia (SD) is a rare voice disorder caused by involuntary and intermittent spasms of the laryngeal muscles. Both diagnosis and treatment have been controversial. Therefore, a series of clinical studies has recently been conducted in Japan.

The prevalence and clinical features of spasmodic dysphonia: A review of epidemiological surveys conducted in Japan.

Objectives: Spasmodic dysphonia (SD) is a rare disease and its epidemiological status is unclear. This review aimed to explore the current prevalence and clinical features of SD in Japan.

Methods: We reviewed Japanese surveys of SD and compared them to surveys reported from other countries.

A summary of the Clinical Practice Guideline for the Diagnosis and Management of Voice Disorders, 2018 in Japan.

Objective: To develop a summary of the first version of the Clinical Practice Guideline of Voice Disorders for Diagnosis, Management, and Treatment in Japan by the Clinical Practice Guideline Committee of the Japan Society of Logopedics and Phoniatrics and The Japan Laryngological Association. The 2018 recommendations, based on a review of the scientific literature, are intended to serve as clinical practice guidelines for the diagnosis, management, and treatment of voice disorders in Japan.

Methods: A summary of the original version of the Clinical Practice Guideline of Voice Disorders for Diagnosis, Management, and Treatment in Japan was described.

Reliability and Validity of Speech Evaluation in Adductor Spasmodic Dysphonia.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate speech in patients with adductor spasmodic dysphonia (ADSD) by perceptual evaluations and acoustic measures, and to examine the reliability and validity of these measures.

Methods: Twenty-four patients with ADSD and 24 healthy volunteers were included in the study. Speech materials consisted of three sentences constructed from serial voiced syllables to elicit abductor voice breaks.

Perioperative complications and safety of type II thyroplasty (TPII) for adductor spasmodic dysphonia.

Type II thyroplasty (TPII) is one of the surgical options offered in the management of adductor spasmodic dysphonia (AdSD); however, there have been no detailed reports of its safety and associated complications during the perioperative period. Our aim was to assess the complications and safety of TPII. TPII was performed for consecutive 15 patients with AdSD from April 2012 through May 2014.

Voice Onset Time for the Word-Initial Voiceless Consonant /t/ in Japanese Spasmodic Dysphonia-A Comparison With Normal Controls.

Objectives: Voice onset time (VOT) for word-initial voiceless consonants in adductor spasmodic dysphonia (ADSD) and abductor spasmodic dysphonia (ABSD) patients were measured to determine (1) which acoustic measures differed from the controls and (2) whether acoustic measures were related to the pause or silence between the test word and the preceding word.

Methods: Forty-eight patients with ADSD and nine patients with ABSD, as well as 20 matched normal controls read a story in which the word "taiyo" (the sun) was repeated three times, each differentiated by the position of the word in the sentence. The target of measurement was the VOT for the word-initial voiceless consonant /t/.

Important points for primary cleft palate repair for speech derived from speech outcome after three different types of palatoplasty.

Objective: This study was performed to investigate speech outcomes after three different types of palatoplasty for the same cleft type. The objective of this study was to investigate the surgical techniques that are essential for normal speech on the basis of each surgical characteristic.

Methods: Thirty-eight consecutive nonsyndromic patients with unilateral complete cleft of the lip, alveolus, and palate were enrolled in this study.

Voice-related quality of life after treatment of laryngeal cancer.

Objective: To determine patient-perceived voice-related quality of life in patients treated with various methods based on the results of Voice-Related Quality of Life (VRQOL) and Voice Handicap Index-10 (VHI-10) questionnaires.

Design: The VRQOL and VHI-10 questionnaires.

Setting: University hospital.

Development of phonemic distinction in Japanese preschool children.

The literature suggests that, within several months of birth, infants develop the ability to distinguish between different speech sounds. However, the time frame for discrimination of a specific phonological system remains unclear. In order to clarify this, the discrimination responses of 211 preschool children were examined.

The diagnosis and management of globus: a perspective from Japan.

Purpose Of Review: The etiology of globus is multifactorial and its management is controversial. Recent findings in the etiology and diagnosis of globus are discussed, and a subjective opinion on its management is presented.

Recent Findings: Although there is considerable debate concerning the role of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) in patients with globus, the globus symptom score has been shown to be significantly higher in patients with GERD than in those without GERD.

Evaluation of upper abdominal symptoms using the Frequency Scale for the Symptoms of Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease in patients with laryngopharyngeal reflux symptoms.

Background: The purpose of the study was to evaluate upper abdominal symptoms in laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR) patients and changes in both upper abdominal and LPR symptoms before and after acid-suppression therapy.

Methods: In 100 patients with LPR symptoms, upper abdominal and LPR symptoms were evaluated by using the Frequency Scale for the Symptoms of Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (FSSG) and the LPR symptom scoring system, respectively. In the 52 assessable patients, changes in these symptoms before and after acid-suppression therapy were evaluated.

Acid-suppression therapy offers varied laryngopharyngeal and esophageal symptom relief in laryngopharyngeal reflux patients.

It is widely accepted that laryngopharyngeal reflux requires more aggressive and prolonged therapy than gastro-esophageal reflux disease. Otolaryngologists often observe that laryngopharyngeal symptoms, such as throat clearing, hoarseness, cough, and globus pharyngeus, are slower to resolve than esophageal symptoms, such as heartburn and regurgitation. The aim of this was to provide empirical evidence to support this observation and to carry out a detailed investigation of the differences between these symptoms.

[Three cases of muscle tension dysphonia improved using proton pump inhibitors].

We report 3 cases of muscle tension dysphonia (MTD), all involving women 44 to 68 years old, recovered using proton pump inhibitors (PPI). Case 1 had open posterior commissure (MTD Type I) and Cases 2 and 3 supraglottis compression (MTD Type II, III). It is generally assumed that functional dysphonia with maladjustment of laryngeal muscle tension is caused by improper phonation and/or emotional disorder.

Velopharyngeal insufficiency in hemifacial microsomia: analysis of correlated factors.

Objective: To investigate the incidence of unilateral hypodynamic palate (UHP) and velopharyngeal insufficiency (VPI) in hemifacial microsomia (HFM), and to determine the dysmorphic manifestations having significant associations with UHP/VPI in HFM.

Study Design: This was a nonrandomized study of 48 patients with unilateral HFM without cleft palate. The correlation between each anomaly and UHP/VPI was analyzed statistically.

Helicobacter pylori seropositivity predicts outcomes of acid suppression therapy for laryngopharyngeal reflux symptoms.

Objectives: Although an inverse relationship has been reported between the rates of reflux esophagitis and Helicobacter pylori infection in Japan, infection rates among patients complaining of laryngopharyngeal reflux symptoms, such as abnormal laryngopharyngeal sensation, chronic coughing, and hoarseness, have not previously been investigated. The effects of H. pylori infection on outcomes of acid suppression therapy have not been studied.

Voice restoration by primary insertion of indwelling voice prosthesis following circumferential pharyngolaryngectomy with free jejunal graft.

Background: Voice restoration after circumferential pharyngolaryngectomy (CPL) with free jejunal graft remains a difficult problem to solve. Few reports have analyzed the success rate and complications following primary insertion of indwelling voice prostheses during CPL with free jejunal graft.

Patients And Methods: Eight patients who underwent CPL with free jejunal graft had a Groningen voice prosthesis inserted as a tracheoesophageal (TE) shunt at the time of oncological surgery.

The prevalence of laryngeal pseudosulcus among Japanese patients with laryngopharyngeal reflux related symptoms.

Infraglottic edema extending from the anterior commissure to the posterior larynx, called the laryngeal pseudosulcus, may have some value in the diagnosing of laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR). The purpose of this study is to evaluate the prevalence, sensitivity and specificity of this finding among Japanese patients with LPR-related symptoms. Forty-three patients diagnosed as LPR based on their symptoms and 42 control patients without LPR were enrolled.