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Objective Static endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (SEES) is an instrumental evaluation developed for in‐office identification of patients who may benefit from a modified barium swallow study (MBSS). We aim to determine the predictive value of SEES for evaluating dysphagia. Methods A retrospective case series was performed on adults evaluated for dysphagia using SEES followed by MBSS at a single tertiary care center. Studies were evaluated by two blinded expert raters. Results Fifty‐eight patients were included. Thin liquid penetration on SEES had a sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) of 0.86 (95% CI 0.70‐0.95), 0.63 (95% CI 0.24‐0.91), 0.91 (95% CI 0.76‐0.98), and 0.5 (0.19‐0.81), respectively, for predicting thin liquid penetration on MBSS, and 1.0 (95% CI 0.59‐1.0), 0.29 (95% CI 0.15‐0.47), 0.23 (95% CI 0.10‐0.41), and 1.0 (95% CI 0.69‐1.0) for predicting thin liquid aspiration on MBSS. Thin liquid aspiration on SEES had a sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and NPV of 0.67 (95% CI 0.09‐0.99), 0.85 (95% CI 0.66‐0.96), 0.33 (95% CI 0.04‐0.78), and 0.96 (95% CI 0.79‐1.0), respectively, for predicting thin liquid aspiration on MBSS. Conclusions SEES may be used as an objective in‐office test to screen for aspiration and penetration. Thin liquid penetration on SEES is moderately sensitive for predicting penetration on MBSS. Absence of thin liquid penetration or aspiration on SEES has a high NPV for excluding aspiration on MBSS. Abnormalities on SEES or the need to view the entire swallowing mechanism should prompt an MBSS for a more complete evaluation of dysphagia. Level of Evidence: 4, Static endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (SEES) is an instrumental evaluation developed for in‐office identification of patients who may benefit from a modified barium swallow study (MBSS). SEES may be used as an objective in‐office test to screen for aspiration and penetration. Absence of thin liquid penetration or aspiration on SEES has a high NPV for excluding aspiration on MBSS.

OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS VT is often considered the preferred treatment for vocal feminization in transgender patients. However, Wendler glottoplasty offers a surgical option for increasing fundamental frequency and perception of vocal femininity. We aimed to determine whether the addition of glottoplasty to VT results in greater fundamental frequency elevation and improvement in quality-of-life measures. STUDY DESIGN Retrospective case series. METHODS Forty-eight trans female patients were treated for vocal feminization. Twenty-seven patients underwent VT, and 21 patients underwent VT with additional glottoplasty (VTWG). Pre- and posttreatment acoustic measures, Trans Woman Voice Questionnaire (TWVQ), and Voice Handicap Index-10 (VHI-10) data were compared. RESULTS Glottoplasty in combination with VT elevated average speaking fundamental frequency (SF0) to a greater extent than VT alone (P

OBJECTIVES Voice therapy has been the primary treatment for voice feminization in transfemale patients due to concerns that surgery worsens voice quality. We aim to determine the impact of Wendler glottoplasty on acoustic measures of voice. STUDY DESIGN Retrospective case series. METHODS Transgender female patients treated for vocal feminization with Wendler glottoplasty at a single tertiary care center were identified. Pre- and postoperative measures were taken with the Kay Elemetrics Real-Time Pitch, Analysis of Dysphonia in Speech and Voice, and Multidimensional Voice Program. RESULTS Twenty-eight patients were included in this study. There were no statistically significant changes in fundamental frequency variation, peak amplitude variation, soft phonation index, noise-to-harmonics ratio, cepstral peak prominence, or cepstral spectral index of dysphonia at a significance level of P

Objectives Although patient‐reported outcome measures (PROMs) can be useful for assessing quality of life, they can be complex and cognitively burdensome. In this study, we prospectively evaluated a simple patient‐reported voice assessment measure on a visual analog scale (VAS voice) and compared it with the Voice Handicap Index (VHI‐10). Study design Prospective survey. Methods An abbreviated voice measure was designed by a team of otolaryngologists, speech pathologists, and patients that consisted of four VAS questions related to (a) a global question of voice disturbance, (b) physical function of voice, (c) functional issues, and (d) emotional handicap. All English‐speaking patients presenting to an academic laryngology clinic for a voice complaint were included. Internal consistency and validity were assessed with comparison to the VHI‐10. Results A total of 209 patients were enrolled. Ninety‐two percent of patients reported understanding the survey. The four‐item VAS survey was highly correlated with VHI‐10 score (Pearson correlation .81, P

OBJECTIVES Formal evaluation of health states related to dysphonia have not been rigorously evaluated in affected patients. The objective of this project was to evaluate the health states of mild, moderate, and severe dysphonia using formal health state preference evaluation, and to compare these outcomes with the degree of voice handicap. DESIGN Prospective health state preference assessment. METHODS A convenience sample of patients presenting with voice complaints were enrolled from an academic voice center. Demographic and voice handicap index (VHI-10) data were obtained, and an assessment of preference for five health states (monocular blindness, binocular blindness, mild dysphonia, moderate dysphonia, and severe dysphonia) was performed. Utility scores were calculated on a scale from 0 (death) to 1 (perfect health). Analysis was performed with ANOVA testing with post-hoc comparisons and correlation statistics. RESULTS Of 209 assessments, 149 (75.6%) met quality criteria. Relative to monocular blindness (score 0.61 [CI 0.57-0.64]), moderate dysphonia (0.58 [0.54-0.62]) was rated equivalently, with severe dysphonia (0.33 [0.29-0.37]) ranking significantly worse and mild dysphonia (0.96 [0.95-0.98]) significantly better. Binocular blindness (0.18 [0.15-0.21]) was the worst-ranked health state. There was a weak inverse correlation of VHI-10 with dysphonia-related preference scores; with worsening reported voice handicap, scores decreased. CONCLUSION This study demonstrated that dysphonia had a significant impact of quality of life, with moderate dysphonia ranking equivalently with monocular blindness. These numerical estimates may be used for ongoing research into the value and cost-effectiveness of medical, therapeutic, and surgical interventions for voice disorders. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE 2c (outcomes research) Laryngoscope, 130:E177-E182, 2020.

Summary Objectives Radiation treatment for laryngeal cancer has been shown to cause tissue changes to the vocal folds, which can result in degradation of voice. Our objective in this study was to investigate changes in perceptual, acoustic, and patient-reported outcomes over an extended period of follow-up after radiation. Design Retrospective review. Methods All patients treated with radiation for early-stage laryngeal carcinoma (in situ, T1, or T2) by a single surgeon from 2011–2018 were reviewed. Demographics and treatment information were recorded. Only patients with at least two dates of follow-up with acoustic data (cepstral spectral index of dysphonia [CSID]) and patient-reported surveys (voice handicap index-10 [VHI-10]) were included. Voice samples were rated by two senior speech-language pathologists on the grade, roughness, breathiness, asthenia, and strain scale. Results Of 115 patients with early-stage laryngeal cancer, 31 patients met inclusion criteria. The average follow-up from time of treatment was 9.6 years (range 3.0–20.3 years), and the average time in between the first and last voice recordings was 2.6 years (range 0.3–5.5 years). The lesions represented were carcinoma in situ (n = 4), T1 (n = 22), and T2 (n = 5). The VHI-10 scores worsened slightly (mean increase +0.27, median +1) from first to last measurements as did the CSID score (median increase +7.0, median +7.4), though neither reached statistical significance when correlated with time since radiation (P = 0.269 and P = 0.0850). Perceptual analysis as rated by two speech-language pathologists raters showed excellent inter-rater reliability (Cronbach's alpha = 0.84), with no significant change over time (mean +0.39, median, with P = 0.347). Grade, roughness, breathiness, asthenia, and strain, VHI-10, and CSID were all correlated (all pairwise comparisons P Conclusion Perceptual, acoustic, and patient-reported outcomes years after radiation for early-stage laryngeal cancer do not show voice degradation over time in this preliminary analysis. Further research with a larger cohort may elucidate voice changes in this population.

Long-term voice outcome (LTVO) after radiation (XRT) or trans-oral laser microsurgery (TLM) is unclear. This study is a multi-modality analysis of LTVO following XRT or TLM in patients with early glottic cancer. We hypothesize that as compared with TLM, LTVO is worse in the XRT group because of progressive fibrosis in the glottic tissue MATERIAL AND METHODS: One hundred and two patients with early glottic carcinoma (carcinoma in situ, T1, T2) were included. Multi-modality voice analyses were performed with self-perception using Voice Handicap Index-10, objective analysis using Analysis of Dysphonia in Speech and Voice Software (Cepstral Spectral Index of Dysphonia score for Consensus Auditory-Perceptual Evaluation of Voice sentences), and perceptual rating by two blinded speech language pathologists (GRBAS scale).Fifty-five patients received TLM (mean follow-up = 52 months) and 47 patients had XRT (mean follow-up = 65 months). There is no difference between the two groups in sex, age, stage, and follow-up time. Intraclass correlation coefficient between raters was high at 0.94. Controlling for age and stage, XRT increases total GRBAS score by 1.38 points (P = 0.006) and increases Cepstral Spectral Index of Dysphonia score by 13.7 points (P 0.001) when compared with the TLM group. No significant differences were found in the Voice Handicap Index score between the XRT and the TLM groups.This is the first multi-modality voice analysis to suggest TLM results in better LTVO than XRT in GRBAS score and objective voice analysis but not in self-perception. These differences may reflect the progressive effects of XRT on glottic tissue. A randomized controlled study is required to confirm our findings.

Aspiration risk from dysphagia increases with central and peripheral neurologic disease. Stroke, microvascular ischemic disease, a spectrum of neurodegenerative diseases, and advancing dementia all have unique aspects. However, there are distinct commonalities in this population. Increasing nutritional requirements to stave off oropharyngeal muscular atrophy and a sedentary lifestyle further tax the patient's abilities to safely swallow. This article reviews stroke, muscular dystrophy, myasthenia gravis, multiple sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, and advanced dementia. Approaches to screening and evaluation, recognizing sentinel indicators of decline that increase aspiration risk, and options for managing global laryngeal dysfunction are also presented.