• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.748-752
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• 2007

Purpose: The goal of palatoplasty is focused on two points. One is to close the palatal defect completely, and the other to create a velopharyngeal system for normal speech. While established methods such as pushback palatoplasty or double opposing Z palatoplasty are used in wide cleft palate repair, sequelae such as maxillary hypoplasia or oronasal fistula may result. Therefore, when palatoplasty with buccinator myomucosal flap is used in the case of wide cleft palates, maxillary hypoplasia and oronasal fistula is reduced and optimal results are obtained. Methods: From October 2005 to December 2006, four children with wide complete cleft palate underwent unilateral buccinator myomucosal flap and intravelar veloplaty. Mean age at cleft repair was 15 months, and mean cleft size was 2.15 cm. The patients underwent intravelar veloplasty and palatoplasty was done using unilateral buccinator myomucosal flap. Results: The patients, after mean 10 months of follow-up observation, showed no signs of oronasal fistula resulting from flap tension. The shape and color similar to normal oral mucosa was obtained, and velopharyngeal function was acquired. Conclusion: When intravelar veloplasty and palatoplasty with unilateral buccinator myomucosal flap is done on wide cleft palates, postoperative speech function is optimal, velopharyngeal incompetence is effectively corrected, and sequelae resulting from pushback palatoplasty and double opposing Z-plasty, such as maxillary hypoplasia and oronasal fistula, is reduced.

• Archives of Craniofacial Surgery
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.22-26
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• 2020

Background: This study investigated the outcomes of pharyngeal flap surgery in Asian patients with velopharyngeal dysfunction (VPD), with a focus on postoperative improvements in speech articulation and complications. Additionally, this study explored whether the cause of VPD and the timing of surgery affected outcomes in terms of speech improvement. Methods: A retrospective review was conducted of the medical records of 72 Asian VPD patients who underwent pharyngeal flap surgery performed by a single surgeon from 1996 to 2014. Operative complications were analyzed for all 72 patients, and preoperative and postoperative speech articulation tests were compared for the subset of 43 patients in whom such testing was possible. The relationships of age at surgery and the cause of VPD with the extent of improvement in speech articulation were also investigated. Results: Nine of the 72 patients (13%) experienced wound-related complications. Furthermore, 34 patients (47%) reported persistent snoring lasting for over 3 months, and 16 (22%) reported snoring for over 1 year. Three patients (4%) underwent reoperation. Speech articulation scores significantly improved postoperatively across all groups. Younger age at surgery was associated with greater improvements in speech outcomes, but no significant relationship was found between the cause of VPD and the extent of the postoperative improvement in speech outcomes. Conclusion: Speech outcomes improved after pharyngeal surgery in Asian patients with VPD. Early surgery was associated with favorable speech outcomes, but no association was found between the cause of VPD and postoperative speech outcomes.

• Korean Journal of Cleft Lip And Palate
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.39-44
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• 2005

Velopharyngeal incompetence(VPI) is that soft palate and muscle of posterolateral pharyngeal wall can not close velopharyngeal port properly. Thing that prior to treatment for patient with VPI is to evaluation about nasopharyngeal closing function. This data is important for making a treatment plan and assesment of treatment effect to improve nasopharyngeal closing function. There are two ways of VPI assessment. The one is subjective method by auditory finding, the other is objective method by using equipment for language test. Using only subjective way is not adequate for evaluation of VPI because of low trust, so doing both two methods simultaneously help to make a diagnosis and assessment exactly. CPAP is effective method to treat hypernasality. This new treatment technique intensify oropharyngeal muscle for nasopharyngeal closing by direct resistance training. Becase conventional treatments have limitation, so many research about treatment effectiveness of CPAP are being studied. This study aims that we compare our result from Korean VPI patients with result about treatment effect in other advanced country, to make CPAP Treatment Questionares and to find ways that improve oropharyngeal closing function an[1 maximally increase language treatment effect.

• Speech Sciences
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• v.1
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• pp.237-259
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• 1997

Cleft Palate speech appears to have hyper/hyponasality with velopharyngeal insufficiency and articulation disorders. Previous studies on Cleft Palate speech have shown that speech tends to have lower airflow and air pressure. To examine the aerodynamic characteristics of Cleft Palate speech, Aerophone II Voice function Analyzer was used. We measured sound pressure level, airflow, air pressure and glottal power. Three Cleft Palate adults and five normal adults participated in this experiment. The test words are composed of: (1) the sustained vowel /o/ (2) /CiCi/, where C is one of three different stop consonants in Korean (3) /bimi/. Subjects were asked to produce /bimi/ five times without opening their lips. All the data was statistically tested by t-test for Cleft Palate patients before operation groups and control groups and paired t-test for Cleft Palate patients before and after operation groups. The results were as follow: (1) Cleft Palate patients generally speak with incomplete oral closure and lower oral air pressure. As a result, the SPL of Cleft Palate before operation is 3 dB lower than control groups. (2) Airflow of Cleft Palate in phonation and articulation is lower than that of control groups. However, it increased after operation. Lung volume and mean airflow in phonation are significantly increased (p<0.05). (3) Although velopharyngeal function (velar opening rate) of Cleft Palate is poor in comparison with control groups, it was recovered after operation. In this event maximum flow rate and mean airflow rate are significantly increased (p<0.05). (4) Air pressure of Cleft Palate in speech is lower than that of control groups. In general, the air pressure of Cleft Palate increased after operation. In this event air pressure of glottalized consonant is significantly increased (p<0.04). (5) Glottal Power(mean power, mean efficient and mean resistant) of Cleft Palate patients is lower than that of control groups. But mean efficient and mean resistant of Cleft Palate patients increased significantly (p<0.05) after operation.

• Korean Journal of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery
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• v.55 no.8
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• pp.498-507
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• 2012

Background and Objectives We aimed to develop a Korean version of the velopharyngeal insufficiency (VPI) speech corpus system. Subjects and Method After developing a 3-channel simultaneous speech recording device capable of recording nasal/oral and normal compound speech separately, voice data were collected from VPI patients aged more than 10 years with/without the history of operation or prior speech therapy. This was compared to a control group for which VPI was simulated by using a french-3 nelaton tube inserted via both nostril through nasopharynx and pulling the soft palate anteriorly in varying degrees. The study consisted of three transcriptors: a speech therapist transcribed the voice file into text, a second transcriptor graded speech intelligibility and severity and the third tagged the types and onset times of misarticulation. The database were composed of three main tables regarding (1) speaker's demographics, (2) condition of the recording system and (3) transcripts. All of these were interfaced with the Praat voice analysis program, which enables the user to extract exact transcribed phrases for analysis. Results In the simulated VPI group, the higher the severity of VPI, the higher the nasalance score was obtained. In addition, we could verify the vocal energy that characterizes hypernasality and compensation in nasal/oral and compound sounds spoken by VPI patients as opposed to that characgerizes the normal control group. Conclusion With the Korean version of VPI speech corpus system, patients' common difficulties and speech tendencies in articulation can be objectively evaluated. Comparing these data with those of the normal voice, mispronunciation and dysarticulation of patients with VPI can be corrected.

• Korean Journal of Cleft Lip And Palate
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.39-50
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• 2012

A submucous cleft palate(SMCP) is characterized by a midline deficiency or lack with/without incorrect positioning of muscular tissues in the soft palate, and by a bony defect in the midline or the center of the hard palate. Velopharyngeal incompetence(VPI) related to this SMCP has been managed by various surgical and prosthetic techniques. Because the individual diagnosis and treatment of SMCP patients was not easy to the speech pathologist and to the maxillofacial reconstructive surgeons, and for the better understanding and for the ideal approaches to the SMCP patients, we reviewed several recent articles about grading system in the SMCP caused by VPI, and summarized in this review article.

• Journal of Dental Anesthesia and Pain Medicine
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.309-312
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• 2016

Patients with cleft lip and palate (CLP) must undergo corrective surgeries during infancy and early childhood. Many patients with CLP undergo orthognathic surgery during their childhood for correction of skeletal asymmetries or pharyngoplasty with a pharyngeal flap to improve the quality of speech and velopharyngeal function. During orthognathic surgeries, nasotracheal intubation is performed under general anesthesia. In our case report, the patient had undergone palatoplasty and pharygoplasty previously. During the orthognathic surgery, a flexible fiberoptic bronchoscope-guided nasotracheal tube was inserted through the pharyngeal flap ostium; however, active bleeding occurred in the nasopharynx. Bleeding occurred because the flap was torn. After achieving hemostasis, the surgery was completed successfully. Thus, if a patient may show the potential for velopharyngeal port obstruction, nasotracheal intubation should be performed with utmost care.

• Speech Sciences
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.191-203
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• 2003

This study examined the effect of vocal loudness on nasalance measures, under the conditions of three sentence patterns (i.e., Oral sentences, Mixed sentences, Nasal sentences). The vocal loudness level was classified into soft voice (55 dB), medium voice (65 dB) and loud voice (75 dB). The participants in the present study were 30 normal adults (male: female =1:1). Kay's Nasometer 6200 was used to measure nasalance and Sound level meter was used to adjust the loudness level. The results of the present study are as follows. Firstly, the change in vocal loudness is in the following. In the Oral sentence stimuli, the loud voice for both male and female showed the highest nasalance degree, and the medium voice the lowest level. In the Mixed and Nasal sentence stimuli, however, male participants showed the highest degree of nasalance in the soft voice, and the lowest degree in the loud voice, and female showed the highest degree of nasalance in the soft voice and the lowest in the medium voice. Secondly, when each subject's nasalance scores were ranked in a ordered manner, noticeable tendency. Lowest nasalance score occurred in the loud voice and the highest nasalance score was recorded in the soft voice during participants' reading of the Nasal sentences. However, it was hard to find such pattern in the Oral sentences. It is assumed that velopharyngeal function could be related to these findings. Furthermore, the findings associated with vocal loudness may have diagnostic as well as clinical implications.

• Proceedings of the KSPS conference
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• 2007.05a
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• pp.149-151
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• 2007

This study was designed to investigate fast ab/adduction rate of articulation valves in normal adults. The measurement of fast ab/aduction rate has traditionally been used for assessment, diagnosis and therapy in patients who suffered from dysarthria, functional articulation disorders or apraxia of speech. Fast ab/adduction rate shows the documented structural and physiological changes in the central nervous system and the peripheral components of oral and speech production mechanism. Fast ab/adduction rates were obtained from 20 normal subjects by producing the repetition of vocal function (/ihi/), tongue function (/t${\wedge}$/), velopharyngeal function (/m/), and labial function (/p${\wedge}$/). The Aerophone II was used for data recording. The results of finding as follows: average fast ab/adduction rates were vocal function(6.21cps), tongue function(7.42cps), velopharyngeal function(5.23cps), labial function (6.93cps). The results of this study are guidelines of normal diadochokinetic rates. In addition, they can indicate the severity of diseases and evaluation of treatment.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Laryngology, Phoniatrics and Logopedics
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.81-86
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• 2000

Submucous cleft palate is a relatively uncommon congenital anomaly accompanying velopharyngeal incompetence(VPI). Double opposing Z-plasty has many advantages including prolongation of soft palate, normal midfacial growth, midline scar. We analyzed postoperative results comparing with those of preoperative evaluation by several variables(nasometer, endoscopy, satisfactory scale) in 14 patients treated with double opposing Z-plasty due to submcous cleft palate. Nasalance score in Ah sound, Ma phrase, and Pa phrase decreased 20.23%, 3.25%, and 23.26% in the average, respectively. As a result, hypernasality improved significantly. Closure rate in velum evaluated by endoscopy was increased from 0.44 to 0.76. In objective satisfactory scale checked by each patient's guardian at the postoperative period, much improved in 3, improved in 6, minimally improved in 1, and no difference in 1 was reported. (n=11 patients) Double opposing B-plasty is a good surgical modality in patients accompanying VPI with submucous cleft palate or incomplete cleft palate and will be used more usefully and widely.