Abstract
This study involved total laryngectomy patients and controls who were free from nasoantral disease. Acoustic rhinometry, by which nasal cavity volume as an index of nasal patency can be easily evaluated in laryngectomy patients with stomal breathing, was used in this investigation. Three studies, as follows, were performed and the results in the laryngectomy group were compared with those in the control group. The first study investigated total nasal cavity volume, the second evaluated the degree of change in nasal cavity volume, and the third examined the standard deviation of the difference between nasal cavity volume in the left versus the right side. The third measurement was considered to be representative of reciprocal alternation, that is, the activity of the nasal cycle. In laryngectomy patients, the total nasal cavity volume was increased and the degree of change in ipsilateral volume was decreased relative to that of controls. Moreover, the activity of the nasal cycle was decreased in laryngectomy patients. These results suggested that laryngectomy caused vascular constriction in the nasal mucosa and that the volume of nasal mucosa was decreased. While laryngectomy did not cause the nasal cycle to cease, the nasal cycle of laryngectomy patients showed a low amplitude.
