The Use of a Temporary Speech Aid Prosthesis to Treat Speech in Velopharyngeal Insufficiency (VPI)

비인강폐쇄부전 환자의 언어교정을 위해 발음 보조장치를 이용한 증례

VPI occurs when the velum and lateral and posterior pharyngeal wall fail to separate the nasal cavity from the oral cavity during deglutition and speech. There are a number of congenital and acquired conditions which result in VPI. Congenital conditions include cleft palate, submucous cleft palate and congenital palatal insufficiency (CPI). Acquired conditions include carcinoma of the palate or pharynx and neurologic disorders. The speech characteristics of VPI is characterized by hypernasality, nasal air emission, decreased intraoral air pressure, increased nasal air flow, decreased intelligibility. VPI can be treated with various methods that include speech therapy, surgical procedures to reduce the velopharyngeal gap, speech aid prosthesis, and combination of surgery and prosthesis. This article describes four cases of VPI treated by speech aid prosthesis and speech therapy with satisfactory result.