• Korean Journal of Bronchoesophagology
• /
• v.5 no.2
• /
• pp.130-137
• /
• 1999

Background and Objectives : Provox, a recently developed tracheoesophageal prosthesis, had been widely used for voice rehabilitation after total laryngectomy for its low resistance and easiness of speech ability. But, long-term use of Provox resulted in many complications and resulted in cessation of Provox as a primary method of vocal rehabilitation. The aim of this study is to report Provox-related problems and the long-term results of Provox voice prosthesis. Materials and Methods : Medical records from patients who had undergone total laryngectomy with Provox insertion at seoul National University Hospital between January 1993 and December 1998 were reviewed retrospectively. Results : 36 patients had used 79 Provox voice prostheses during the observed period. The most common complication causing prosthesis change or removal was leakage and/or aspiration, followed by granulation formation, crusting and/or obstruction, and non-function. Median in situ lifetime of Provox was 274 days and 1-year-in situ rate was 31.0% Among 36 patients, 17 patients had undergone tracheoesophageal shunt closure at the last follow-up visit. 10 patients had complications but got along without further treatments, and 1 patient changed to Blom-Singer voice prosthesis. Only 8 patients experienced no complication, and 5 out of whom had several times of Provox change. Conclusion : long-term use of Provox resulted in discontinuation of its use due to complications in many cases. A better voice prosthesis with lower complication rate and longer in situ lifetime is needed.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
• /
• v.32 no.6
• /
• pp.561-566
• /
• 1999

Background: It is not easy to surgically correct caustic pharyngeal strictures and a lot of effort is required to restore normal swallowing after the surgery. The authors reviewed the course in patients who underwent pharyngocolostomy. Material and Method: From August 1995 to March 1998, 6 patients with caustic stricture underwent esophageal reconstruction surgery. The time of injury to the replacement of the esophagus was from 3 months to 2 years and 4 months. The left colon was used in all patients. The surgical route was used under the sternum in 5 patients and through the esophageal hiatus in 1 patient. In the cervical anastomoses, the cervical pharyngocolic anastomosis was performed on the left pyriform sinus after a partial resection of the thyroid cartilage in 3 patients and on the posterolateral aspect of the inferior pharyngeal constrictor in 3 patients. Result: Postoperative complications consisted of a dysphagia in 3 patients and left vocal cord palsy in 1 patient. There was no cervical anastomotic stricture. Revisional procedures consisted of an esophageal dilation and free jejunal graft in 1 patient, supraglottic scar band resection in 1 patient, and colonic mucosal resection in 1 patient. Swallowing training was required in the 3 patients with dysphagia. Restoration of normal swallowing was obtained in all patients between the 9th and the 303rd day. Conclusion: Pharyngocolostomy is a satisfactory method of treatment for patients with intractable caustic stricture. Pharyngocolojejunostomy is an effective alternative for esophagocologastrostomy in cases where gastric outlets are involved.

• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
• /
• v.43 no.3
• /
• pp.327-333
• /
• 2016

Tourette's syndrome is a chronic neuropsychiatric disorder characterized by the presence of vocal and multiple motor tics. Tics are defined as brief, intermittent, repetitive, unpredictable, purposeless, and stereotyped movements or sounds. Some patients experience physical pain from intense and complex tics. In addition, motor tics can result in self-injury which is a common feature of Tourette's syndrome. A 9-year-old boy was referred by the department of neuropsychiatry because of a severe tongue laceration. His parents reported that he had been biting his tongue irregularly for 2 months before referral and suffered from an intense burning sensation. The repeated biting resulted in ulcers on the tongue, which quickly worsened and led to progressive difficulty chewing and swallowing food. We offered to give him a two-piece removable appliance to limit tongue biting; it was made of soft silicone and fitted to both the maxillary and mandibular arches. As we emphasized that the device could help alleviate his pain, he agreed to accept it and adapted well. Just 3 weeks later, his tongue lesions had healed significantly.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Laryngology, Phoniatrics and Logopedics
• /
• v.27 no.2
• /
• pp.108-113
• /
• 2016

Background and Objectives : After thyroidectomy, many patients experience problems report such things as reduced voice range and vocal fatigue, swallowing problems without superior and recurrent laryngeal nerve injury. The purpose of this study was to evaluate voice and swallowing problems before and after thyroid surgery without laryngeal nerve injury. Materials and Methods : Ninety-three patients who underwent thyroidectomy without laryngeal nerve injury and completed the follow-up evaluations were studied between June 2013 and December 2015. Each evaluation was performed preoperatively, as well as 1 week, 1 month postoperatively. Analysis was performed including voice handicap index (VHI), dysphagia handicap index (DHI), and acoustic voice analysis. Results : Patients show significant variation of parameters in the fundamental frequency (F), maximal phonation time (MPT), shimmer, jitter and soft phonation index (SPI) early after operation, and most of them showed recovery of parameters after 1month of operation. Perceptive complaint of voice and swallowing also showed significant decreased after operation (p<0.005). After 1month of operation, MPT, highest frequency and frequency ranges still showed significant decreased parameters. Comparing acoustic and perceptive parameters of total thyroidectomy and lobectomy, there was no significant changes between them except highest frequency (p=0.042). Conclusion : The results from both subjective and objective evaluations show voice and swallowing disturbance after thyroidectomy even in the absence of laryngeal nerve and provide patients information about the recovery process after surgery. Highest frequency parameter showed most significant changes after operation.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
• /
• v.31 no.2
• /
• pp.149-154
• /
• 1998

We retrospectively analyzed 54 patients with esophageal cancer treated surgically between 1992 and 1996. They composed of 51(94.4%)men, 3(5.6%)women, and the age ranged from 42 to 78, the mean was 58.7$\pm$8.37. Symptoms were varied with dysphagia(72.2%), epigastric discomfort(16.6%), chest pain (5.6%), and so on(5.6%). Transthoracic esophagectomy(TTE) with esophagogastrostomy was done in 36 case, TTE with esophagocologastrostomy in 4 case, and transhiatal esophagectomy(THE) with esophagogastrostomy in 14 case. The operative mortality was 12.9%(7/54); 6 underwent TTE with esophagogastrostomy, and 1 underwent TTE with esophagocologastrostomy. Postoperative complications were of anastomotic leakage in 7 case, wound infection in 10 case, anastomotic stricture in 9 case, vocal cord paralysis in 2 case, bronchial tearing in 1 case, and pneumothorax in 3 case. Locations of esophageal cancer were upper thoracic esophagus in 4 case, middle thoracic esophagus in 34 case and lower thoracic esophagus in 16 case. Histological types were adenocarcinoma in 1 case and squamous cell carcinoma in 53 case. During the follow-up period, 25 cases died. Cumulative survival rate was 52.7% in 1 year, 45.5% in 2 year, 45.5% in 3 year, 45.5% in 4 year, 45.5% in 5 year.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
• /
• v.48 no.4
• /
• pp.252-257
• /
• 2015

Background: Lobectomy is the generally accepted standard treatment for early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, especially in elderly patients, it is often necessary to perform pneumonectomy in order to maximize the likelihood of curative treatment, although pneumonectomy is a challenging procedure. Methods: We analysed patients who were clinically diagnosed with stage I NSCLC and underwent pneumonectomy with curative intent from 2004 to 2011. The patients were divided into an elderly group (${\geq}70$ years) and a younger group (<70 years). We retrospectively analysed the outcomes of these groups of patients in order to characterize the role of pneumonectomy as a treatment for elderly patients with clinical stage I NSCLC. Results: Thirty patients younger than 70 years of age (younger group) and fourteen patients 70 years of age or older (elderly group) who underwent pneumonectomy were enrolled in the present study. The median follow-up period was 35 months (range, 0 to 125 months). The perioperative mortality rate (within 90 days after the operation) was 7.1% in the elderly group and 6.7% in the younger group (p=0.73). No significant differences between the two groups were observed regarding the occurrence of pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, cardiac arrhythmia, bronchopleural fistula, and vocal cord paralysis. The overall five-year survival rate was 79.4% in the younger group and 35.7% in the elderly group, which was a significant difference (p=0.018). The five-year disease-free survival rate was 66.7% in the younger group and 35.7% in the elderly group, but this difference was not statistically significant (p=0.23). Conclusion: Although elderly patients with early stage lung cancer showed a worse long-term survival rate after pneumonectomy than younger patients, the outcomes of elderly patients were similar to those of younger patients in terms of perioperative mortality and postoperative complications. Patients should not be denied pneumonectomy solely due to old age.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
• /
• v.24 no.2
• /
• pp.162-169
• /
• 2007

Purpose : It is well known that suspension microlaryngeal surgery produces marked increases in arterial blood pressure and heart rate. In this study, we evaluated the effects of 10% lidocaine preoperatively sprayed for attenuation of the perioperative hemodynamic response during suspension microlaryngeal surgery. Materials and Methods : Fifty American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) class 1 patients scheduled for excision of a vocal polyp by suspension laryngoscopy were randomly divided into two groups (n=25 for each group). They were intubated without 10% lidocaine spray (control group) or given 1.5 mg/kg of 10% lidocaine sprayed onto the pharyngolaryngeal and intratracheal sites 90 sec prior to intubation (10% lidocaine group). Anesthesia was maintained using desflurane in $O_2/N_2O$ 50%. The arterial blood pressure and heart rate were measured at preinduction (T0), 1 min (T1), 3 min (T2), 5 min (T3) after tracheal intubation, and 1 min (T4), 3 min (T5), 5 min (T6) and 10 min (T7) after the suspension laryngoscopy. Results : In the 10% lidocaine group, the arterial blood pressure and heart rate at 1 (T1), 3 (T2) min after tracheal intubation and 1 (T4), and 3 (T5) min after suspension laryngoscopy were lower than the same measurements in the control group. Conclusion : 10% lidocaine sprayed onto the pharyngolaryngeal and intratracheal sites before intubation was an effective method for attenuation of the perioperative hemodynamic response during suspension microlaryngeal surgery.

• Speech Sciences
• /
• v.10 no.3
• /
• pp.7-27
• /
• 2003

Esophageal Speech uses the esophageal air during phonation. Fluent esophageal speakers frequently intake air in oral communication, but unskilled esophageal speakers are difficult with swallowing lots of air. The purpose of this study was to investigate the difference of acoustic characteristics of vowel and consonants production according to the speech proficiency level in esophageal speech. 13 normal male speakers and 13 male esophageal speakers (5 unskilled esophageal speakers, 8 skilled esophageal speakers) with age ranging from 50 to 70 years old. The stimuli were sustained /a/ vowel and 36 meaningless two syllable words. Used vowel is /a/ and consonants were 18 : /k, n, t, m, p, s, c, $C^{h},\;k^{h},\;t^{h},\;p^{h}$, h, I, k', t', p', s', c'/. Fundermental frequency (Fx), Jitter, shimmer, HNR, MPT were measured with by electroglottography using Lx speech studio (Laryngograph Ltd, London, UK). 36 meaningless words produced by esophageal speakers were presented to 3 speech-language pathologists who phonetically transcribed their responses. Fx, Jitter, HNR parameters is significant different between skilled esophageal speakers and unskilled esophageal speakers (P<.05). Considering manner of articulation, ANOVA showed that differences in two esophageal speech groups on speech proficiency were significant; Glide had the highest number of confusion with the other phoneme class, affricates are the most intelligible in the unskilled esophageal speech group, whereas in the skilled esophageal speech group fricatives resulted highest number of confusions, nasals are the most intelligible. In the place of articulation, glottal /h/ is the highest confusion consonant in both groups. Bilabials are the most intelligible in the skilled esophageal speech, velars are the most intelligible in the unskilled esophageal speech. In the structure of syllable, 'CV+V' is more confusion in the skilled esophageal group, unskilled esophageal speech group has similar confusion in both structures. In unskilled esophageal speech, significantly different Fx, Jitter, HNR acoustic parameters of vowel and the highest confusions of Liquid, Nasals consonants could be attributed to unstable, improper contact of neoglottis as vibratory source and insufficiency in the phonatory air supply, and higher motoric demand of remaining articulation due to morphological characteristics of vocal tract after laryngectomy.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Laryngology, Phoniatrics and Logopedics
• /
• v.22 no.2
• /
• pp.143-150
• /
• 2011

Background and Objectives : Clinically, as a tool for voice assessment before and after the operation or the voice treatment, acoustic analysis is widely used. However, in clinical situations, acoustic parameters vary according to how the assessment is made. Thus, with voice disease patients as subjects, we are to investigate what influence intensity increase exerts on acoustic parameters and how to reduce variation according to the way of assessing. Material and Method : At the voice clinic of the department of otorhinolaryngology in Gangnam Severance Hospital, with 30 female voice-disease patients (40.6 years old on the average) and 23 male voice-disease patients (40.1 years old on the average) as subjects, using the Dr Speech vocal-assessment program, we statistically tested the significance of the difference in each of acoustic parameters between when the "Ah" vowel is produced with a normal voice and when the "Ah" vowel is produced with a loud voice. Results : Acoustic parameters that showed a statistically significant difference according to intensity increase were Jitter, SD F0, and NNE for females, and Jitter, SD F0, HNR, SNR, and NNE for males. Voice quality estimates showed a statistically significant difference according to intensity increase in female hoarse voice, female breathy voice, and male breathy voice. Conclusion : In this research, acoustic analysis, which is generally used for voice assessment before and after the operation or the voice treatment, showed a tendency that acoustic parameters became better under the influence of intensity increase except for the cases where a voice disease was severe. Thus, to raise the reliability of voice assessment, the range of intensity needs to be set up. This should be the topic for the future research.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Laryngology, Phoniatrics and Logopedics
• /
• v.22 no.2
• /
• pp.137-142
• /
• 2011

Background and Objectives : The aim of this study is to introduce Korea version of pediatric VHI and to compare pVHI-K scores between children with dysphonia and children without voice problems before pVHI-K is developed as a preliminary study. Additionally, the relationship between pVHI and acoustic measures were investigated. Materials and Methods : pVHI-K scores in normal group were obtained from 15 parents who have children with no present or past history of a voice disorder, hearing loss, or related disability that can affect the their voice or speech. Dysphonia group consisted of 15 parents who have children with bilateral vocal fold nodule's at Department of Otolaryngology, the Seoul National University Hospital (SNUH). pVHI-K and acoustic parameters were measured in two group. Results : The mean pVHI scores (total, functional, physical, emotional) in normal group were 2.33 (T), 0.80 (F) 1.33 (P) and 0.27 (E), respectively whereas those of pVHI in children group with dysphonia were 23.13 (T), 11.07 (F), 5.73 (P) and 6.13 (E), respectively and significant differences were revealed in total pVHI score as well as in all of the sub-pVHI scores. Moreover, significant correlation between pVHI-K parameters (T, F, P) and acoustic measures [Shimmer(%)] were shown in children in dysphonia group. Conclusion : Reported by parents can be useful as a supplementary clinical tool for diagnosing and measuring treatment effectiveness in young children with dysphonia.