[Fiberscopic study of velopharyngeal function in 170 normal subjects]

This paper established a quantitative methodology for evaluating the velopharyngeal function (VPF) using NPF. The reliability of this method was testified. On the basis of this result, the observation of normal velopharyngeal function was carried out in 170 normal individuals. The authors presented the percentage of VPI during phonating five Chinese vowels, the highest one was "a" (52.3%), the lowest ones were "i" and "u" (7.1% and 5.3%). The extent of VPI was measured, the mean of "a"'s RVPI was 13.9%, and the means of "i"'s and "u"'s RVPI were 9.3% and 9.7% respectively. The authors suggested the RVPI "i" and RVPI "u" as two parameters for assessing VPF.