Laryngeal electromyography in adults with Parkinson's disease and voice complaints

To study the laryngeal electromyography (LEMG) pattern in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and vocal complaints.

Twenty-six adults with PD and vocal complaints and 26 controls with presbyphonia underwent videolaryngoscopy (VL) and LEMG.

No tremor was found on LEMG of the cricothyroid and thyroarytenoid muscles, even in cases with clinical and VL tremor. LEMG hypertonicity during voice rest was the typical feature observed in 73% of the patients with PD versus 23% of the controls. This difference was statistically significant. The severity of the disease, diagnosis, and the time of treatment did not correlate with LEMG findings.

This is the first study reporting the use of LEMG in a large series of patients with PD and vocal complaints. Patients with PD presented spontaneous intrinsic laryngeal muscle activity during voice rest.

The typical patterns in LEMG suggest this to be a valuable diagnostic tool in PD.