Journal of voice : official journal of the Voice Foundation
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Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Differences between flexible and rigid endoscopy in assessing the posterior glottic chink.
To determine whether different modalities of laryngeal examination produce differences in the assessment of the posterior glottic chink (PGC), and whether the prevalence of PGC differs by gender. ⋯ From this pilot study, we determined that there is a difference in male and female PGC prevalence and size. PGC is more common in females than males. Prevalence (or the detection rate) is about the same with RL and FL in females, but higher with RL than FL in males. The average score of the glottic opening, when present, was statistically significantly different between RL and FL in females but not in males. Furthermore, females had a larger PGCS on both modalities when compared with males, although this difference was only found to be statistically significant on RL; and complete glottic closure was more common in older than in younger subjects.
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Cricothyroid approximation (CTA) surgery aims at raising the voice pitch in male-to-female transsexuals. However, 30% of the patients are not satisfied with the result. The purpose of our study was to examine the cricothyroid joint (CTJ) biomechanics and to analyze if (and how) the CTJ anatomy influences the movement of the cricoid and, consequently, the elongation of the vocal fold and the voice pitch after CTA. ⋯ The anatomical structure of the CTJ influences directly (1) the position of the effective rotation axis and (2) the elongation of the vocal folds.