Acoustic analysis of voice quality with or without false vocal fold displacement after cordectomy

Conventional cordectomy by means of a laryngofissure is one of the therapeutic options for treatment of early glottic cancer. To improve the poor voice quality related to this kind of operation, many authors have developed different techniques to repair the mucosal defect. We analyzed voice quality acoustically and compared it after cordectomy alone and after cordectomy with the reconstruction of the vocal cord in a group of 14 patients affected by T1 glottic carcinoma. All the patients underwent postoperative speech therapy. Three patients who underwent cordectomy with reconstruction showed the presence of diplophonia, while two patients without reconstruction showed the presence of bitonality. The differences of the acoustic parameters (jitter, shimmer, harmonic-to-noise ratio) between the two groups of patients were not statistically significant. Reconstruction of the vocal cord does not seem to improve voice quality after cordectomy even in combination with postoperative speech therapy.