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Query: UMLS:C0026838 (spasticity)
 6,471 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Spasmodic dysphonia is a severe disorder of phonation accompanied by extreme tension of the entire phonatory system. The expressive functions of speech such as laughter, singing, and whispering are much less affected if at all. Psychotherapy, speech therapy, stimulant and psychotropic drugs, hypnotism and acupuncture have all been tried as treatment without success. In 1976, Dedo reported 34 patients who were managed with recurrent laryngeal nerve section for spasmodic dysphonia. All of these patients had marked improvement in voice with relief of spasticity. Twenty-two patients with documented spasmodic dysphonia present for at least one year have been managed at the Cleveland Clinic since Dedo's report. None of them had any improvement with conventional voice therapy and were subjected, therefore, to recurrent laryngeal nerve section.
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PMID:Recurrent layngeal nerve section for spasmodic dysphonia. 47 50

Four patients with spastic dysphonia refractory to speech and phychiatric therapy were treated by crushing the recurrent laryngeal nerve. Vocal cord paralysis was produced in all patients. Vocal spasticity subsided in all patients. Vocal cord motion returned in four to six months. Three of four patients remained free of spasticity for a minimum of 24 months.
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PMID:Laryngeal nerve crush for spastic dysphonia. 47 51

Spasmodic dysphonia is a disturbance of phonation with laryngeal spasms. We report voice and neurologic examination findings in 45 subjects. Neurologic abnormalities were found in 32 subjects (71.1%). Rapid alternating movement abnormalities, weakness, and tremor were common. Incoordination and spasticity were rare. Lower extremity findings were frequent. Abnormalities were bilateral. Spasmodic dysphonia severity was related to age. Type, severity, and duration of vocal symptoms were not different for subjects with or without neurologic abnormalities. Vocal tremor was more frequent in neurologically abnormal subjects. Involvement of a pallidothalamic-supplementary motor area system could account for neurologic findings, brain imaging findings, and clinical heterogeneity. The view emerging is that spasmodic dysphonia is a manifestation of disordered motor control involving systems of neurons rather than single anatomical sites.
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PMID:Heterogeneity in spasmodic dysphonia. Neurologic and voice findings. 200 Nov 89

This presentation compares the preoperative voice recordings and the latest follow-up voice recordings, made 5 to 14 years postoperatively, of the first 300 patients with various degrees of spastic dysphonia whom we treated with recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) sections from 1975 to 1982. Voice therapy was usually given afterward and in some patients, when necessary, "fine tuning" surgery was performed later. The 243 patients who could be located were asked to answer a questionnaire regarding their voice production and communication abilities, and to make a voice recording. The preoperative and long-term postoperative voice recordings were analyzed by means of perceptual voice evaluation and acoustic analysis of the voice spectra. Fifteen percent developed recurrence of mild to moderate spasticity 6 to 24 months after the RLN section. This was curable with laser vocal cord thinning via direct laryngoscopy. Eighty-two percent of patients had little or no voice spasticity 5 to 14 years after their RLN section. The experimental alternative of injecting botulin directly into the vocal cord to temporarily paralyze it is discussed.
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PMID:Recurrent laryngeal nerve section for spastic dysphonia: 5- to 14-year preliminary results in the first 300 patients. 201 84

It has been acknowledged that for many patients with spastic dysphonia, reflexive phonation remains essentially free of the spasticity that characterizes this disorder. The purpose of this paper is to document the extent to which various phonatory tasks change the patient's voice. We retrospectively reviewed 37 patients with spastic dysphonia evaluated at the Center for Communication Disorders of Lenox Hill Hospital, New York, between 1977 and 1981. The patients' responses to various phonatory tasks were observed. These tasks were grouped into the following ten categories: noncommunicative vocalization, primitive communication, speech superimposed on noncommunicative phonation, communicative phonation with varied mode of vocal fold vibration, normal communicative phonation with unusual pitch, normal communicative phonation with unusual emphasis, normal communicative phonation with normal laryngeal adjustments, use of the vocal folds in an artistic manner, speech in which normal auditory feedback was eliminated, and speaking with whisper which was not associated with vocal fold vibration. The results are summarized as follows: 1) whispered speech always resulted in an improvement of the symptom, in most cases markedly; 2) there was a tendency for a task that was more effective in reducing spasticity to be reduced in communicative function; 3) there was a tendency for a task that was more effective in reducing the spasticity to deviate more from the normal mode of phonation; and 4) there were some patients in whom an improvement occurred with elimination of auditory feedback.
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PMID:Symptom improvement of spastic dysphonia in response to phonatory tasks. 397 May 5

Of 365 spastic dysphonia patients treated by recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) section to date, 44 (12%) have experienced recurrence of the spastic dysphonia. Most of these 44 patients had moderately severe to very severe spastic dysphonia before the RLN section was performed. We believe, therefore, that preoperative severity is an important predictor of the likelihood of recurrence. Twenty-eight patients with recurrent spastic dysphonia following RLN section were further treated by one or more carbon dioxide laser thinnings of the paralyzed vocal fold. Following this procedure, 23 patients (50%) achieved eradication of spasticity, while a mild degree of spasticity remained in 17 (39%). These findings lead us to conclude that even though spastic dysphonia may recur following RLN section, a viable secondary surgical procedure is available.
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PMID:Evaluation and treatment of recurrent spasticity after recurrent laryngeal nerve section. A preliminary report. 646 74

26 patients with traumatic voice disorders were examined laryngoscopically. During the initial mute stage, reflex vocal cord movement could be detected but no intentional movement. A gradual approximation of the vocal cords led to a narrowing of the glottic aperture so that whispering but not voiced phonation, was possible (stage of whispering). The third stage was characterized by the rapid development of a laryngeal (and pharyngeal) spasticity, identifiable by shortened and thickened vocal folds, an increased approximation of the ventricular folds and in a more dorsal position of the epiglottis. During phonation hyperadduction of the anterior two thirds of the vocal cords occurred with an accompanying open posterior chink (stage of spastic dysphonia). In some patients an incomplete, unilateral vocal cord abduction during respiration was observed which is most probably the result of an unilateral (contralateral) laryngeal hemispasticity. In other patients spontaneous (uni- and bilateral) laryngeal hyperkinesias were also present.
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PMID:[Laryngoscopic findings in dysphonia following traumatic midbrain syndrome]. 670 92

The experimental and clinical results of the surgical treatment of patients with spastic dysphonia by selective section of the adductor branch of the recurrent laryngeal nerve are described. Experimental selective nerve section in dogs appears to retain cordal abduction during inspiration while producing a partial adductor paralysis. Selective section of the recurrent laryngeal nerve has been performed in four patients with 18- to 24-month follow-up. Speech results have been good with maintenance of partial vocal cord motion. No patient has experienced a return of spasticity. We theorize that selective nerve section may decrease the likelihood of the long-term failure that has been seen with complete nerve section by preventing medial fixation of the paralyzed vocal cord.
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PMID:Selective section of the recurrent laryngeal nerve for the treatment of spastic dysphonia: an experimental study and preliminary clinical report. 680 3

Recurrent laryngeal nerve section for spastic dysphonia was first performed in 1975 because prior forms of treatment had failed. Virtually every patient has had a detailed postoperative follow-up which includes a tape recording and a self-assessment questionnaire. The majority of patients remain free of spasticity at this medium-term follow-up. In some, spasticity recurred with less than preoperative severity. A small percentage of patients have a persistent breathy phonation. The first group is treated with vocal fold lateralization procedure using the CO2 laser; the second, with Teflon. When needed, voice therapy is also given. This paper provides a basis for diagnosis, indications for surgery, primary and secondary surgical techniques, encountered problems, and medium-term follow-up results.
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PMID:Intermediate results of 306 recurrent laryngeal nerve sections for spastic dysphonia. 682 80

Adductor spastic dysphonia is a voice sign associated with various neurologic and psychologic disorders. Treatment of spastic dysphonia in selected patients is unilateral recurrent laryngeal nerve sectioning. Except for voice change or, in some patients, return of phonatory spasticity, there have been no long-term sequelae or complications of this treatment. We describe three patients with adductor spastic dysphonia who underwent recurrent laryngeal nerve sectioning and who, 3 to 38 months later, suffered respiratory distress that required tracheostomy. The respiratory distress in all three patients was due to episodic jerky vocal cord hyperadductions that caused stridor during inspiration and expiration. These repetitive laryngospasms during respiration and phonation were progressive. Two patients needed an arytenoidectomy to achieve a useful voice, and all three required a permanent tracheostomy to alleviate inspiratory laryngeal obstruction.
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PMID:Respiratory distress after recurrent laryngeal nerve sectioning for adductor spastic dysphonia. 707 Jan 66


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