BACKGROUND Velopharyngeal dysfunction produces a nasal speech pattern because of the inability to close the nasal airway during speech, most often associated with anatomical abnormalities of the palate. CASE REPORT We describe two cases of possible velopharyngeal dystonia, a task-specific movement disorder causing a speech pattern similar to velopharyngeal dysfunction. Both patients experienc...

Rehabilitation of a patient with partial resection of soft palate is a prosthodontic challenge. Surgery is the preferred treatment for speech correction in patients affected by velopharyngeal dysfunction which may not be feasible in many clinical situations. Prosthetic treatment combined with speech therapy is the treatment of choice in such patients who cannot be managed with surgical treatmen...

OBJECTIVE Different bony structures can affect the function of the velopharyngeal muscles. Asian populations differ morphologically, including the morphologies of their bony structures. The purpose of this study was to compare the velopharyngeal structures during speech in two Asian populations: Japanese and Thai. METHODS Ten healthy Japanese and Thai females (five each) were evaluated with a...

INTRODUCTION  Velopharyngeal dysfunction may cause impaired verbal communication skills in individuals with cleft lip and palate; thus, patients with this disorder need to undergo both instrumental and auditory-perceptual assessments. OBJECTIVE  To investigate the main methods used to evaluate velopharyngeal function in individuals with cleft lip and palate and to determine whether there is a...

INTRODUCTION We have previously reported that fascia lata grafts with peritendinous areolar tissue used to treat severe congenital blepharoptosis gradually shrink within 6 weeks postoperatively and maintain long-term shrinkage of 15.5% on average. Accordingly, it seemed possible that a fascia lata graft without peritendinous areolar tissue would shrink more than the one with peritendinous areol...

PURPOSE Adequate velopharyngeal control is essential for speech, but may be impaired in Parkinson's disease (PD). Bilateral subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (STN DBS) improves limb function in PD, but the effects on velopharyngeal control remain unknown. We tested whether STN DBS would change aerodynamic measures of velopharyngeal control, and whether these changes were correlated wit...

This clinical randomized controlled trial was performed to compare the effects of distraction osteogenesis (DO) and conventional orthognathic surgery (CO) on velopharyngeal function and speech outcomes in cleft lip and palate (CLP) patients. Twenty-one CLP patients who required maxillary advancement ranging from 4 to 10 mm were recruited and randomly assigned to either CO or DO. Evaluation of r...

This study addressed the question of whether there are any differences in the size and collapsibility of the upper airway measured by digital fluoroscopy, between snorers and controls whilst they were awake and breathing normally; and whether there are any correlations between these measurements and other clinical data. The dynamic changes of the upper airway size were evaluated using digital f...