• Journal of the Korean Society of Laryngology, Phoniatrics and Logopedics
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.164-172
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• 2002

The role of botulinum toxin as a therapeutic agent is expanding rapidly in otolaryngology. Botulinum toxin is a protease that blocks the release of acetylcholine from nerve terminals. Its effects are transient and nondestructive, and largely limited to the area in which it is administered These effects are also graded according to the dose, allowing for individualized treatment of patients and disorders. Botulinum toxin has been used primarily to treat disorders of excessive or inappropriate muscle contraction. In the field of otolaryngology, these include spasmodic dysphonia, oromandibular dystonia, and blepharospasm, vocal tics and stuttering, cricopharyngeal achalasia, various tremors and tics, hemifacial spasm, temporomandibular joint disorders and a number of cosmetic applications. Botulinum toxin treatment has recently begun to show some benefit in the control of pain from migraine and tension headache. It may also prove useful in the control of autonomic dysfunction, as in Frey syndrome, sialorrhea, and rhinorrhea. In over 20 yews of use in humans, botulinum toxin has accumulated a considerable safety record, and in many cases represents relief for thousands of patients unaided by other therapy.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Laryngology, Phoniatrics and Logopedics
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.72-75
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• 2019

Solitary neurofibroma of the glottis is extremely rare and accounts for only 0.1-1.5% of benign laryngeal tumors. Aryepiglottic fold is the most frequent involved site followed by arytenoids and ventricular folds. There have been few reports of neurofibroma of the true vocal cord. We report a case of neurofibroma which was deeply embedded in the vocal cord and misdiagnosed as muscle tension dysphonia with a review of literatures.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.155-161
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• 2018

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a multiple voice therapy technique ($SKMVTT^{(R)}$) using laughter for the treatment of various benign vocal fold lesions. To achieve this, 23 female patients diagnosed with vocal nodules, vocal polyp, and muscle tension dysphonia through videostroboscopy were enrolled in vocal hygiene and $SKMVTT^{(R)}$. All of the patients were treated once a week for 4 to 12 sessions. The GRBAS scale was used to confirm the changes in voice quality before and after the treatment. Acoustic analysis was performed to evaluate jitter, shimmer, NHR, fundamental frequency variation, amplitude variation, PFR, and dB range. Videostroboscopy was performed to confirm the changes in the laryngeal features before and after the treatment. After the $SKMVTT^{(R)}$, the results of the perceptual evaluation demonstrated that the G, R, and B scales significantly improved. An acoustic evaluation also demonstrated that jitter, shimmer, NHR, vAm, vFo, PFR, and dB range also significantly improved after the $SKMVTT^{(R)}$. In comparison to the videostroboscopic findings, the size of the vocal nodules and vocal polyp decreased or disappeared after the treatment. In addition, the size of the cuneiform tubercles decreased, the length of the aryepiglottic folds became longer, and the laryngeal findings of the supraglottic compressions improved after the $SKMVTT^{(R)}$. These results suggest that the $SKMVTT^{(R)}$ is effective in improving the vocal quality of patients with benign vocal fold lesions. In conclusion, it seems that laughter and inspiratory phonation suppressed abnormal laryngeal elevation and lowered laryngeal height, which seems to have the effect of improving hyperfunctional phonation.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Laryngology, Phoniatrics and Logopedics
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.81-86
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• 2021

Background and Objectives Therapies have been reported to treat the glottal gap previously. However, these voice therapies showed the limits because many techniques focused only on one among breathing, resonance and phonation. In addition patients often have difficulties visiting hospital frequently. 'Gliding and humming' is vocal training technique that readjusts total vocal patterns such as breathing, resonance and phonation. This technique can be easily applied during short term sessions. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficiency of voice therapy with 'gliding and humming' for patients with glottic gap during short-term treatment sessions. Materials and Method Twenty-three patients with glottal gap were selected. Of all patients, 14 patients had sulcus vocalis and 12 patients had muscle tension dysphonia (MTD). Voice therapies were performed 1.9 sessions in average. GRBAS, jitter, shimmer, noise to harmonic ratio, semitone range, closed quotient_vowel and maximum phonation time were compared before and after the therapies. In addition, changes of glottal gap and MTD severity were evaluated. Results Statistically significant improvement was observed. MTD improvement was observed only among the patients with glottal gap improvement. Also sulcus vocalis group showed the statistically significant improvement. Conclusion 'Gliding and humming' was effective to the patients with glottic gap and sulcus vocalis. Also, among patients who have both glottic gap and MTD, the data suggests that voice therapy for glottic gap also makes improvement in MTD.