Evaluation of the Electroglottographic Signal Variability in Organic and Functional Dysphonia.

Objectives: To confirm the data reported in our previous studies on the analysis of the variability of the electroglottographic signal in the pathological voice; to evaluate possible differences in variability between organic and functional pathologies; to identify any distinctive/typical EGG patterns for these pathologies.

Methods: One hundred twenty-five subjects were enrolled (36 euphonic and 89 pathological: 24 functional dysphonia, 21 bilateral vocal nodules, 23 unilateral polyps and 21 unilateral cysts). All subjects were studied with videolaryngostroboscopy, spectrographic analysis of voice and electroglottography (EGG).

Normative and validation data of an articulation test for Italian-speaking children.

Objectives: As a standardized instrument to assess speech sound development in Italian-speaking children is currently lacking, norms used to diagnose speech sound disorders (SSD) are mainly based on studies including English-speaking participants. This application may result in misidentification of SSD due to linguistic differences. The aims of the study were to establish normative data on speech sound development of Italian-speaking children and to evaluate psychometric properties of Rossi's articulation test, the picture-naming test selected to assess speech sound development.

Pediatric selective mutism therapy: a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Selective mutism (SM) is a rare disease in children coded by DSM-5 as an anxiety disorder. Despite the disabling nature of the disease, there is still no specific treatment.

Aim: The aims of this study were to verify the efficacy of six-month standard psychomotor treatment and the positive changes in lifestyle, in a population of children affected by SM.

Surgery or Rehabilitation: A Randomized Clinical Trial Comparing the Treatment of Vocal Fold Polyps via Phonosurgery and Traditional Voice Therapy with "Voice Therapy Expulsion" Training.

Objective: Phonomicrosurgery is generally considered to be the treatment of choice for removing vocal fold polyps. However, specific techniques of voice therapy may represent, in selected cases and under certain conditions, a noninvasive therapeutic option for the treatment of such laryngeal lesions. The aim of the present study is to longitudinally assess, in terms of clinical outcomes and quality of life, two groups of patients with cordal polyps, treated either with standard surgery plus standard voice therapy or with a specific training of voice therapy alone, which we have called "Voice Therapy Expulsion.

Videofluoroscopy and oropharyngeal manometry for evaluation of swallowing in elderly patients.

Presbyphagia represents the physiological aging evolution of the swallowing function. It is related to the natural changes of the anatomical structures involved in the swallowing process. These age-related modifications can be asymptomatic in the early stages of life, but in the late stages, they could lead to dysphagia, aspiration pneumonia, dehydration, or malnutrition, reducing the quality of life.

Is Menstrual Dysphonia Associated With Greater Disability and Lower Quality of Life?

Objectives: The aim of the present study had been to examine the relationships between menstrual dysphonia and measures of psychosocial distress, in a sample of female professional voice users.

Design And Methods: This is a prospective study of 52 consecutive professional voice users, aged 18-40 years, affected by transient dysphonia related to the menstrual cycle and recruited in the Division of Phoniatrics and Audiology of the Second University of Naples, from April 2011 to September 2014. The following evaluation protocol was used: videoendoscopy, the GIRBAS scale, the Voice Handicap Index, and the determination of sexual hormonal plasma levels both during the menstrual and the luteal phase of the cycle.

Speech-language evaluation and rehabilitation treatment in Floating-Harbor syndrome: a case study.

Unlabelled: Floating-Harbor syndrome is a rare congenital disorder characterized by specific facial features, short stature associated with significantly delayed bone age and language impairment. Although language delay is a cardinal manifestation of this syndrome, few reports describe the specific language difficulties of these patients, particularly the development of language abilities in the long run. This paper reports on an Italian boy with Floating-Harbor syndrome and discusses his language evaluation at presentation (age 48 months) and development and progress of his language abilities after 4 years of rehabilitation treatment.