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Effect of Wendler Glottoplasty on Acoustic Measures of Voice
Author(s) -
Chang Joseph,
Brown Sarah K.,
Hu Shirley,
Sivakumar Ganesh,
Sataluri Medha,
Goldberg Leanne,
Courey Mark S.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
the laryngoscope
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.181
H-Index - 148
eISSN - 1531-4995
pISSN - 0023-852X
DOI - 10.1002/lary.28764
Subject(s) - phonation , voice therapy , audiology , medicine , voice analysis , fundamental frequency , cepstrum , feminization (sociology) , speech recognition , acoustics , computer science , physics , social science , sociology
Objectives Voice therapy has been the primary treatment for voice feminization in transfemale patients due to concerns that surgery worsens voice quality. We aim to determine the impact of Wendler glottoplasty on acoustic measures of voice. Study Design Retrospective case series. Methods Transgender female patients treated for vocal feminization with Wendler glottoplasty at a single tertiary care center were identified. Pre‐ and postoperative measures were taken with the Kay Elemetrics Real‐Time Pitch, Analysis of Dysphonia in Speech and Voice, and Multidimensional Voice Program. Results Twenty‐eight patients were included in this study. There were no statistically significant changes in fundamental frequency variation, peak amplitude variation, soft phonation index, noise‐to‐harmonics ratio, cepstral peak prominence, or cepstral spectral index of dysphonia at a significance level of P < .05. Average speaking fundamental frequency (SF0) increased from 143 Hz after voice therapy to 163 Hz after surgery ( P = .0009). Lower range decreased in 61% and increased in 26% of patients. Upper range decreased in 52% and increased in 48% of patients. Conclusions Wendler glottoplasty does not worsen voice quality based on acoustic measures. Although most patients experience an increase in average SF0, effects on vocal range are variable with approximately half of patients experiencing a reduction and half experiencing an increase in upper pitch limit. Level of Evidence 4 Laryngoscope , 131:583–586, 2021