喉頭マニュアルテストとFunctionalAphonia

抄録

Manual force applied to the thyroid and cricoid cartilages can change the position and tension of the vocal folds during phonation. Various laryngeal manual tests have been developed for deciding the indications for laryngeal framework surgery. We found that these tests could also be used as a therapeutic measure for functional voice disorders.
Two patients, a boy and a girl, are presented as typical examples. Dysphonia caused by laryngeal contusion persisted long after the laryngeal findings had become apparently normal.
Incoordination among the phonatory muscles was suspected, and manual procedures, such as lateral compression of the thyroid cartilage, induced easy, though temporary, phonation. With the help of a video—fiberscopic system, audio as well as visual feed back was utilized to enhance the effect, helping the patients break the vicious cycle of phonatory incoordination.
Voice therapy with the above techniques resulted in complete recovery of the voice within a month in both cases.