Quantitative Criteria for Predicting Thyroplasty Type I Outcome

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Abstract
The purpose of this study was to ascertain the relation between preoperative glottal gap and postoperative vocal function in thyroplasty type I. Twenty‐two of 64 patients who underwent thyroplasty type I between 1987 and 1994 were studied. In preoperative digitized laryngostroboscopic images, the glottal‐gap width (GGW), shape, and area were examined at the maximum closure of vibration and normalized by membranous vocal‐fold length (MVFL). Postoperative vocal function analysis was performed with aerodynamic and acoustic measurements and compared with preoperative videostroboscopic images. In patients with preoperative posterior GGW of less than 10% of MVFL, postoperative vocal function was significantly better than in other patients. Although thyroplasty type I is an excellent medialization technique, it may need to be combined with a posterior closure procedure in patients with large posterior gaps.

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