Short-term treatment results for unilateral vocal fold palsy induced by mediastinal lesions.
OBJECTIVES
Vocal fold paralysis (VFP) is a frequent complication of surgery of mediastinal structures. This study evaluated the characteristics and short-term treatment outcomes of injection laryngoplasty for unilateral VFP (UVFP) induced by mediastinal lesions.


METHODS
The enrolled patients (n = 60) underwent injection laryngoplasty once because of UVFP and were divided into two groups according to cause (group A, thyroidectomy and group B, mediastinal surgery). Voice analysis was performed preoperatively and at 1 month postoperatively. The glottal gap; the Grade, Roughness, Breathiness, Asthenia, and Strain scale; acoustic analysis; and aerodynamic results were measured.


RESULTS
Group A and group B comprised eight and 52 patients, respectively. Group B patients were older than group A patients (P < 0.05). The injected volume in group B (0.91 ± 0.23 mL) was larger than that of group A (0.38 ± 0.17 mL; P = 0.022). Group B (13.35 ± 4.69 units) showed a larger glottal gap than group A (6.64 ± 4.05 units; P = 0.017), and the glottal gap decreased after the procedure. In both groups, most preoperative acoustic parameters except roughness improved after injection laryngoplasty. The preoperative maximum phonation time of group B (2.87 ± 1.11 seconds) was shorter than that of group A (7.04 ± 2.58 seconds), and it improved after injection. Mean airflow rate improved significantly after injection in both groups.


CONCLUSIONS
Mediastinal lesion-induced UVFP is associated with a larger glottal gap than that caused by an injury induced by thyroidectomy. Despite large glottal gap, injection laryngoplasty improves voice outcomes in such types of UVFP.
['Lee|Yoon Se|YS|', 'Kim|Yong-Hee|YH|', 'Kwon|Minsu|M|', 'Ryu|In Sun|IS|', 'Jung|Go-Eun|GE|', 'Kim|Seong-Tae|ST|', 'Roh|Jong-Lyel|JL|', 'Choi|Seung-Ho|SH|', 'Kim|Sang Yoon|SY|', 'Nam|Soon-Yuhl|SY|']
D000162:Acoustics D000328:Adult D005260:Female D006801:Humans D007267:Injections D058753:Laryngoplasty D008297:Male D008482:Mediastinum D008875:Middle Aged D010699:Phonation D020127:Recovery of Function D061226:Recurrent Laryngeal Nerve Injuries D012189:Retrospective Studies D013061:Speech Acoustics D013067:Speech Perception D013068:Speech Production Measurement D013965:Thyroidectomy D013997:Time Factors D016896:Treatment Outcome D014826:Vocal Cord Paralysis D014827:Vocal Cords D014833:Voice Quality D055815:Young Adult
Vocal fold paralysis Laryngoplasty Voice quality