Findings on Laryngeal Imaging in Cases of Laryngeal Paralysis

Abstract

We investigated whether laryngeal images can be used to determine the pathological condition and effects of treatment in daily observations. Fifty-four patients underwent intracordal fat injection with autologous fat between December 2003 and December 2012 at the Tokyo Hospital of Tokai University. The pre-operative laryngeal findings of these cases were assessed retrospectively. In terms of the association between the laryngeal images and the pre- and post-operative maximum phonation times, a significant relationship was noted with both pre- and post-operative maximum phonation times in cases in which a gap was found on the posterior portion of the glottis. In particular, the presence of a gap in the posterior region of the glottis was related to the maximum phonation time, and significantly related to improvements in voice following autologous fat injection.