Treatment of Velopharyngeal Insufficiency: Fifteen-Year Experience at the University of Florida.

Introduction: A 15-year experience treating velopharyngeal insufficiency at the University of Florida is presented. After diagnostic speech evaluation, preoperative videofluoroscopy was the primary method used to evaluate the function of the velopharyngeal port.

Methods: Chart reviews of all patients with velopharyngeal insufficiency, including patients with failed palatal cleft surgery, submucous cleft palate, and noncleft palate who met study criteria were included.

Parental perception vs. professional assessment of speech changes following premature loss of maxillary primary incisors.

Purpose: This study's purpose was to compare parental perceptions of children's speech changes with a professional speech assessment following premature extractions of maxillary primary incisors (PEMPI).

Methods: Healthy 5- to 6-year-olds, with no cognitive and speech delay and who received PEMPI between the ages of 2 and 4 years old at a university-based clinic, were recruited for the study. First, their parents took part in a telephone interview regarding their perceptions of speech changes following the extractions.

Evaluation and treatment of velopharyngeal insufficiency: the University of Florida experience.

This retrospective study spans the years 1988 to 2000 and looks specifically at the treatment procedures and outcomes for the correction of velopharyngeal insufficiency (VPI). Ninety-eight patients underwent preoperative assessment by speech pathologists that included perceptual speech evaluation, videofluoroscopy, and, for some, nasendoscopy. Based on this evaluation protocol, a specific surgical procedure was chosen to serve the patients' needs.