• Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.555-562
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• 1996

A competent velopharyngeal sphincter is essential for intelligible speech. If the velopharyngeal incompetence exist, the seal will not be complete during speech, with a resultant hypernasal speech quality. The patient with velopharyngeal incompetence(VPI) may develope other compensatory speech problems. There are many approaches available to correct velopharyngeal incompetence, which include speech therapy, push back palatorrhaphy, pharyngeal wall implants and pharyngoplasty. This is cases report of velopharyngeal incompetence, which were successfully treated by superiorly based pharyngeal flap, covered with splitted hinge flap of nasal lining mucosa of the soft palate, named modified Hogan method. The advantages of this method are precision in the approximation of the flap due to pentagonal shaped flap design, good blood supply due to omission of the midsagittal incision on nasal lining mucosa, and simplicity than Hogan method.

• The Journal of Advanced Prosthodontics
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.243-247
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• 2012

The velopharynx is a tridimensional muscular valve located between the oral and nasal cavities, consisting of the lateral and posterior pharyngeal walls and the soft palate, and controls the passage of air. Velopharyngeal insufficiency may take place when the velopharyngeal valve is unable to perform its own closing, due to a lack of tissue or lack of proper movement. Treatment options include surgical correction, prosthetic rehabilitation, and speech therapy; though optimal results often require a multidisciplinary approach for the restoration of both anatomical and physiological defect. We report a case of 56 year old male patient presenting with hypernasal speech pattern and velopharyngeal insufficiency secondary to cleft palate which had been surgically corrected 18 years ago. The patient was treated with a combination of speech therapy and palatal lift prosthesis employing interim prostheses in various phases before the insertion of definitive appliance. This phase-wise treatment plan helped to improve patient's compliance and final outcome.

• Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.159-162
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• 1995

Five patients underwent surgery to treat velopharyngeal incompetence with an inferiorly based pharyngeal flap, and were evaluated postoperatively with a nasoendoscopy. In all patients, velopharyngeal closure occurred during speech of fricative sounds and swallowing. During speech of closed vowel sounds, patients younger than 10 years of age, compared with patients more than 20 years of age, demonstrated a grater improvement in velopharyngeal closure postoperatively. The present study supported the concept that an early pharyngoplasty should be made to obtain improved speech and articulation.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.546-551
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• 2006

Purpose: The reconstruction of oropharyngeal defect after cancer surgery is very difficult because of their complicated structure and the functional importance to prevent velopharyngeal incompetence. In this article we investigated affecting factors of velopharyngeal function after reconstruction and a fundamental rule of reconstruction for saving their functions such as swallowing, speeching and breathing. Methods: We classified 18 patients into three group under Kimata's grouping. Type I defect(6 patients) was healed by primary closure or secondary intention. In Type II or III defect, two operation methods were used - the folded flap(8 patients) and modified Gehanno method(4 patients), which include a lateral-posterior pharyngeal rotation-advancement flap. We evaluated wound dehiscence between the flap and the soft palate, speech intelligibility using Hirose's method, regurgitation during oral feeding, and hypernasality. Results: Most of type I or II defects patients recovered satisfactory velopharyngeal function. But, in patients with type III defects we found wound dehiscence, worse speech function, and common velopharyngeal incompetence. Conclusion: The large defect size and presence of wound dehiscence are major factors of postoperative velopharyngeal function. We conclude that folded flap or modified Gehanno method is a good reconstructive operation method for broad contact between the flap and defect site, preventing wound problem.

• Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
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• v.14 no.1_2
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• pp.22-39
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• 1992

The purpose of this study was to evaluate hypernasality, nasal air emission, glottal stop, articulation disorder in patients with velopharyngeal incompetency(V.P.I.) and to analyze speech improvement after pharyngoplasty. In this study 61 patients with velopharyngeal incompetency were tested, and in patents with pharyngoplasty speech problems before pharyngoplasty were compared with those after pharyngoplasty. The results obtained are as follows : 1. There are few speech problems in pronouncing the vowel sounds. 2. There are many speech problems in pronouncing the pressure sounds and few speech problems in non-pressure sounds. 3. Speech problems in patients with cleft palate are influenced not by anatomical defect but by severity of velopharyngeal incompetence after palatorrhaphy. 4. Operation methods which decrease the velopharygeal incompetence must be considered for reducing the speech problems. 5. Among the 61 cases with V.P.I. 19 cases(31%) showed nasal air emission and 24 cases(39%) showed glottal stop. 6. Pharyngoplasty is of benefit to primary precipitating components such as hypernasality, nasal air emission but of no benefit to secondary compensating component such as glottal stop. 7. There as no significant difference in speech improvement between pre-and post-pharyngoplasty(p<0.05).

• Speech Sciences
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• v.3
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• pp.57-69
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• 1998

Velopharyngeal function refers to the combined activity of the soft palate and pharynx in closing and opening the velopharyngeal port to the required degree. In normal speech, during the production of oral consonant sounds elevation of the soft palate, along with the superior constrictor muscle, occludes the oropharynx from the nasopharynx. Inadequate velopharyngeal function caused by congenital or acquired insufficiency or incompetency may result in abnormal speech characterized by hypernasality, nasal emission and decreased intelligibility of speech due to weak consonant production. The speech aid is often helpful in improving the speech of individuals with velopharyngeal incompetency. In this article, the pathogenesis and treatment of velopharyngeal incompetence are discussed and a speech aid appliance that was constructed for the patient is described.

• Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
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• v.37
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• pp.22.1-22.4
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• 2015

Velopharyngeal dysfunction in cleft palate patients following the primary palate repair may result in nasal air emission, hypernasality, articulation disorder and poor intelligibility of speech. Among conservative treatment methods, speech aid prosthesis combined with speech therapy is widely used method. However because of its long time of treatment more than a year and low predictability, some clinicians prefer a surgical intervention. Thus, the purpose of this report was to increase an attention on the effectiveness of speech aid prosthesis by introducing a case that was successfully treated. In this clinical report, speech bulb reduction program with intensive speech therapy was applied for a patient with velopharyngeal dysfunction and it was rapidly treated by 5months which was unusually short period for speech aid therapy. Furthermore, advantages of pre-operative speech aid therapy were discussed.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Laryngology, Phoniatrics and Logopedics
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.24-32
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• 1991

Cleft palate or velopharyngeal incompetence shows many disorders and disabilities affecting speech transmission. including distortion. substitution. and the nasalization of the vowels. The nasalized vowels are produced primarily by lowering of the velum. resulting in opening a side passage for the air flow through the nasal cavity. These abnormal movements give rise to complex modification of the physical property of the sound or in the sound spectrum. The authors employed Sonagraph$^{\circledR}$ as a sound analyzer in order to ascertain the features which characterize the nasalization of vowels. Twenty healthy Korean male adult voluteers were analyzed in artificial conditions of anterior and posterior nasal obstruction. and velo-pharyngeal incompetence. The results were as follows : 1) Fundamental frequency was not changed by nasal obstruction or velopharyngeal incompetence. 2) There was no significant difference of the formant intensity between normal and nasal vowels. 3) In VPI, a decrease of the frequency of $F_2$ was observed in /e/ and /i/ vowels(p<0.001). 4) In VPI, the $F_2$ was frequently missed in /o/ and /u/ vowels. 5) In the consonant spectra of VPI, the 'release burst' was usually not observed.

• Korean Journal of Cleft Lip And Palate
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.51-60
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• 2000

Assessment of speech nasality provides important information for the treatment of velopharyngeal incompetence. The perceptual judgement of nasality is still used in assessment of velopharyngeal incompetence, but it should not be the sole criterion for speech nasality. Objective procedures may be used to assess velopharyngeal function, in examples nasometer, aerodynamics, x-ray, electromyography, nasoendoscopy and videofluoroscopy etc, The aim of this study was to obtain comprehensive nasalance data for the Korean children, aged 7 years and to investigate any tonsil differences within that age group. The results were as follow: The nasalance of the children in respect of the tonsil was higher in grade III than grade I in vowels (/i/, /u/, /wi/), plosives (/p'/, /t'/, /k'/), affricatives (/c'/) and fricatives (/s/, /∫/). (p<0.05)

• Korean Journal of Cleft Lip And Palate
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.39-44
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• 2005

Velopharyngeal incompetence(VPI) is that soft palate and muscle of posterolateral pharyngeal wall can not close velopharyngeal port properly. Thing that prior to treatment for patient with VPI is to evaluation about nasopharyngeal closing function. This data is important for making a treatment plan and assesment of treatment effect to improve nasopharyngeal closing function. There are two ways of VPI assessment. The one is subjective method by auditory finding, the other is objective method by using equipment for language test. Using only subjective way is not adequate for evaluation of VPI because of low trust, so doing both two methods simultaneously help to make a diagnosis and assessment exactly. CPAP is effective method to treat hypernasality. This new treatment technique intensify oropharyngeal muscle for nasopharyngeal closing by direct resistance training. Becase conventional treatments have limitation, so many research about treatment effectiveness of CPAP are being studied. This study aims that we compare our result from Korean VPI patients with result about treatment effect in other advanced country, to make CPAP Treatment Questionares and to find ways that improve oropharyngeal closing function an[1 maximally increase language treatment effect.