Type 3 Thyroplasty for Patients With Mutational Dysphonia

Abstract

The cases consisted of three men with mutational dysphonia, who were aged 37, 35, and 38 years. The speaking fundamental frequencies (SFFs) at the time of the initial diagnosis were 174.6, 170.2, and 180.0 Hz. In all three patients, voice therapy proved ineffective; therefore, surgery was considered. In the anterior-posterior compression test performed preoperatively in the three patients, the voice became low-pitched. The SFFs decreased postoperatively to 106.9, 115.4, and 87.5 Hz, respectively, in the three patients. Type 3 thyroplasty (TP3) is effective for the treatment of patients with mutational dysphonia in whom voice therapy proved unsuccessful. The SFF of men is high in childhood. At the time of the second pubescent sexual orientation, the frequency usually decreases. However, in some cases, the high-pitched voice of childhood may persist without successful switch to a low-pitched voice during puberty. Thus, there are rare cases of adults with a high-pitched boyish voice. Voice therapy is usually effective for the treatment; however, it may fail in some cases. We performed TP3 for subjects in whom voice therapy proved ineffective. With TP3, the tension of the vocal folds decreases, and the voice becomes low-pitched.