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Evaluation of the Human Vocal Fold Lamina Propria Development Using Optical Coherence Tomography
Author(s) -
Benboujja Fouzi,
Greenberg Max,
Nourmahnad Anahita,
Rath Nicholas,
Hartnick Christopher
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.29516
Subject(s) - lamina propria , optical coherence tomography , medicine , age groups , pathology , anatomy , radiology , epithelium , demography , sociology
Objectives/Hypothesis Identifying distinctive features of the vocal fold (VF) during development could have significant clinical implications for treating voice disorders. This study investigates the structural organization of the VF microanatomy across gender and age groups using optical coherence tomography (OCT). Study Design Prospective clinical trial. Materials and Methods In vivo OCT images were acquired from 97 patients (58 males and 39 females) aged between 6 weeks and 27 years. All patients showed no signs of vocal fold pathology on endoscopy. Morphological features were extracted from OCT images and statistically compared between age groups. This study was performed at Massachusetts Eye and Ear between 2017 and 2019. Results All OCT acquisitions show a stratified microanatomy across age groups, even in newborns suggesting the presence of a superficial lamina propria (SLP) at birth. Furthermore, the optical scattering in the VF lamina propria changes according to age, suggesting subepithelial maturation. Although the epithelium thickness was relatively constant across age groups, the SLP showed a significant linear relationship between age and thickness ( P = .016). Furthermore, a significant difference ( P = .002) in SLP thickness was found between young adult males and females. The overall thickness of the entire mucosa did not change significantly with age. Conclusion OCT is a noninvasive imaging modality capable of providing quantitative morphological features to describe the VF development. A stratified structure can be observed in OCT from newborns to young adults. Further investigations could combine OCT, acoustic measurements, and molecular sensitive techniques to provide a complete interpretation of the VF development. Level of Evidence NA Laryngoscope , 131:E2558–E2565, 2021