Assessment of acoustic characteristics of voice in patients after injection laryngoplasty with hyaluronan.

Background: Glottal incompetence is one of the most common contributing factors in patients who suffer from dysphonia. One of the different treatment approaches is injection laryngoplasty. The aim of the study was to assess the quality of voice in patients who were treated with hyaluronic acid injection into the vocal fold in the long-term follow-up.

Material And Methods: The material included 39 patients with dysphonia who were referred for injection augmentation. The studied group included patients with presbyphonia, scar, sulcus, unilateral vocal fold paralysis and with atrophy of the vocal fold. Preoperative and postoperative examination was based on laryngovideostroboscopy. Patients' voice was assessed using the subjective GRBAS scale, and objective evaluation provided by Multidimensional Voice Program (MDVP) was applied. All the patients underwent injection laryngoplasty with hyaluronic acid into the vocal folds. Follow-up examinations were conducted 6, 12 and 24 months postoperatively.

Results: Perceptual voice quality assessed with the GRBAS scale was improved and the results were stable in the long-term follow-up periods. MDVP showed a significant statistical improvement within the group of frequency, amplitude and noise parameters. The differences in value between follow-up periods were not statistically significant.

Conclusions: Acoustic analysis of voice is a reliable method for objective assessment of voice quality after applied treatment. Injection of the hyaluronic acid into the vocal fold improves the quality of voice in patients suffering from glottic insufficiency.