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CSD 2230

Voice Disorders

Perceptual Signs of Voice Disorders

• Pitch
  • Monopitch lacks normal inflectional variation
  • Inappropriate pitch refers to the voice that is judged to be ouside the normal range of pitch for age and/or sex.
    • High indicative of underdevelopment of larynx
    • Low indicative of endocrinological problems (hypthyroidism)
    • Personal perference
  • Pitch breaks
    • Case 2B
      • Muscle Tension Dysphonia - voice is adversely effected by excessive muscle tension
      • Pitch Breaks - with high frequency
      • Phonation Breaks - phonation interrupted
      • Hoarse voice lacks clarity and the voice is noisy
    • Case 18D
      • Abductor Spasmodic Dysphonia
      • Breathiness
    • Case 35-2D
      • Breathy hoarseness
      • Occasional Pitch Breaks
• Loudness
  • Monoloudness lacks normal variations of intensity that occur
  • Loudness (soft, loud, uncontrolled)
    • Case 9D
      • Parkinson's Disease
      • Reduced Loudness
• Quality
  • Hoarseness lacks clarity and voice is noisy.
    • Pathologies may be cause
    • Vocal misuse or abuse that produces vocal fold swelling called edema
    • Case 17D
      • Bilateral Vocal Fold Polys
      • Hoarseness
    • Case 37-4D
      • Verrucous Carcinoma
      • Breathy-Hoarseness
  • Breathiness is perception of audible air escaping through the glottis during phonation.
    • Indicative of inadequate glottal closure during vocal fold closure
      • Lesion on vocal folds that prevents closure
      • Neurological impairment
    • Case 18D
      • Abductor Spasmodic Dysphonia
      • Breathiness
    • Case 46-13D
      • Fungal Involvement of Vocal Fold
      • Breathiness
    • Case 35-2D
      • Breathy hoarseness
      • Occasional Pitch Breaks
  • Tremor involves variations in pitch and loudness of the voice that are not under voluntary control
    • Indicative of a loss of central nervous control over laryngeal mechanism
    • Case 16D
      • Essential Voice Tremor
      • Tremor
      • Low pitch
    • Case 23D
      • Essential Tremor Syndrome
      • Severe Tremorous voice.
  • Strained Strangled Voice
    • Case 30D
      • Overinjection of Teflon Injection
      • Harsh
    • Case 11D
      • Adductor Spsmodic Dysphonia
      • Strained strangled voice quality
    • Case 49-16D
      • Psychogenic Dysphonia
      • Harsh
      • High Pitch
• Nonphonatory Behaviors
  • Stridor is noisy breathing or involuntary sound that accompanies inspiration and expiration.
    • Case 31
      • Bilateral Recurrent Laryngeal Nerve Paralysis
      • Hoarse
      • Stridor
      • Dyspnea
  • Excessive throat clearing is an attempt to clear mucus from vocal folds.
• Aphonia
  • Consistent is persistant absence of voice and is perceived as whispering.
    • Case 5B
      • Functional Aphonia
      • Loss of Voice
    • Case 9D
      • Parkinson's Disease
      • Reduced Loudness
  • Episodic is uncontrolled, unpredictable aphonic breaks in vocie that can last for a fraction of a second or longer.

Voice Disorders Associated with Vocal Misuse or Abuse

• Misuse
• Abuse
• Conditions
  • Vocal Nodules
  • Vocal Polyps
  • Acute and chronic laryngitis

Voice Disorders Associated with Medical Conditins

• Neurological Diseases
  • Vocal Fold Paralysis
  • Vocal Fold Hyperadduction
• Congenital Laryngeal Webbing
• Laryngeal Cancer
  • Esophageal Speech
  • Passy Muir Speech Valve

Gallery of Laryngeal Pathology

Kuster's Voice Disorders Links