Sound spectra in cleft palate patients with a Sanvenero-Rosselli and modified Honig secondary velopharyngeal flap.

Abstract

The averaged sound spectra produced by cleft patients with a Sanvenero-Rosselli (SR, n = 4) and modified Honig (MH, n = 4) velopharyngeal flap were compared with each other and with the spectra produced by 4 healthy controls. Each subject produced 16 sound spectra; the total number of spectra was 432. The results indicated that the averaged sound spectra produced by MH patients resembled more closely the spectra produced by healthy controls, while the spectra by SR patients differed from those of MH patients and controls. It was concluded that the differences in the averaged spectra of SR and MH patients reflected differences in the region of the oral cavity, particularly the oropharynx rather than the region of the nasopharynx. The results of this preliminary study indicate that this topic is worth further studies.