Velopharyngeal dysfunction in cleft palate patients following the primary palate repair may result in nasal air emission, hypernasality, articulation disorder and poor intelligibility of speech. Among conservative treatment methods, speech aid prosthesis combined with speech therapy is widely used method. However because of its long time of treatment more than a year and low predictability, som...

Background & Objectives: The levator veli palatini (LVP) muscle is most commonly reported as the most abnormal muscle in the population with cleft palate and the muscle plays a significant role in velar elevation, and therefore speech production. Methods: This article reviewed the literature focusing on anatomic aspects of the LVP muscle in normal and cleft palate populations and addressed the ...

Objective: Velopharyngeal insufficiency is usually defined as failure of the velopharyngeal sphincter (mainly: velum, lateral and posterior pharyngeal walls) to separate the oropharynx from the nasopharyngeal space during speech and deglutition resulting in swallowing and speech difficulties with adverse effects on communication skills and the psychological status of the patient. Methods: We pr...

The aim of the study was to evaluate the alterations in speech intelligibility in a cleft palate patient, before and after extending and modifying the palatal contour of the existing prosthesis using a correctable wax recording. An eight-year-old girl studying in second grade with a velopharyngeal defect using an obturator reported to the outpatient clinic complaining of lack in clarity of spee...

quadricuspid aortic valve (qav) is an uncommon congenital anomaly which was an incidental finding during surgery or autopsy in the past. we present the case of a 44-year-old woman with moderately severe aortic regurgitation due to unequal cusp size qav diagnosed via transesophageal echocardiography. due to echocardiographic imaging improvement, the diagnosis of qav is now easier and earlier tha...

Medial movements of the lateral pharyngeal wall at the level of the velopharyngeal port were examined by using a computerized ultrasound system. Subjects produced CVNVC sequences involving all combinations of the vowels /a/ and /u/ and the nasal consonants /n/ and /m/. The effects of both vowels on the CVN and NVC gestures (opening and closing of the velopharyngeal port, respectively) were asse...