You searched for "dysphonia"

213 results found

What about the older adults?

The authors of this paper propose that significant changes in the delivery of services, including speech and language therapy management of swallowing difficulties, may be required. Among the most common causes of dysphagia in older adults are stroke, progressive neurological...

Decreased sound tolerance in autism: understanding and distinguishing between hyperacusis, misophonia, and phonophobia

Decreased sound tolerance (DST) affects a significant proportion of autistic people throughout their lifetime and, as Zachary J Williams explains, it is important that clinicians are aware of the three distinct subtypes of DST when making a diagnosis. Autism spectrum...

Videofluoroscopy: A Multidisciplinary Team Approach

This book places videofluoroscopy in the context of a broader, more holistic approach to the management of patients with dysphagia. It recognises that this is perhaps currently the best available tool to aid our understanding of the physiology of normal...

Do nasogastric tubes affect aspiration risk?

A nasogastric tube (NGT) is frequently used for patients who are at risk of endotracheal aspiration of oral diet. However, this cannot eliminate the aspiration of saliva. The incidence of aspiration pneumonia in patients with NGT therefore remains high. Some...

Do you use the evidence or do you just know to do that?

In this day and age we generally consider healthcare practice to be evidence-based. Unfortunately there are not always the plethora of research articles available that address the dilemmas of day-to-day clinical practice. This piece of work considers what factors influence...

What is the relationship between swallowing difficulties and underlying mental health issues?

People living with dysphagia often experience mental health difficulties. This study aimed to identify whether pre-existing anxiety and depression impacted patient scores on a patient-reported swallowing outcome measure, the Eating Assessment Tool (EAT-10) where a score of ≥3 is indicative...

Voice after posterior cordotomy: we think voice is bad, patients think it’s better!

Bilateral vocal fold immobility (BVFI) is a condition that can affect voice with an impact on quality of life (QOL). Surgical trauma from damage to bilateral recurrent laryngeal nerves, such as from previous thyroid, parathyroid, or mediastinal surgery are common...

Laryngeal cleft in a 66-year-old man!

This is a fascinating case report of a 66-year-old man who presented with a carcinoma of the piriform sinus. During chemoradiotherapy, he developed dyspnoea, dysphagia and aspiration pneumonia. His chemoradiotherapy was stopped and he underwent a pharygnolaryngectomy. When the surgical...

Treating voice disorders in singers

There are few ENT surgeons who have as much insight into singers’ problems as Nick Gibbins. A good knowledge of working patterns, repertoire and the physiology of ‘vocal athletes’ is essential. He shares a few thoughts with us. When deciding...

How common are swallowing problems in a general adult population?

This paper reports on the largest cross-continent study to date, looking at the prevalence of swallowing problems reported by adults in the community aged 18-65 years old. The authors used the Eating Assessment Tool (EAT-10) distributed via an online survey...

How do objective ratings of swallowing compare with patient-reported dysphagia QOL measures in the head and neck cancer population?

Swallowing may be assessed by a comprehensive battery of tools including instrumental/objective assessments, clinician-rated measures and patient-reported measures. The authors of this paper use secondary analysis to explore concordance between videofluoroscopy and a patient-reported dysphagia quality of life (QOL) measure....

Does the appearance, texture, and flavour of food affect how we swallow?

Texture modification and the use of thickened fluids are well-known strategies used to facilitate swallowing in people with dysphagia. However, some controversy exists around thickeners and their possible negative impact on hydration and medication absorption. This paper considers other properties...