Voice Quality Analysis of Reinke's Edema According to Recent New Classification

Reinke's edema is a benign laryngeal disease characterized by inflammation and swelling of the superficial layer of the lamina propria of the vocal fold, known as Reinke's space. The aim of this study was to evaluate the quality of voice by quantitative acoustic measurements in patients affected by RE according to new classification proposed by de Vincentiis.

Prospective case-control.

We enrolled 76 consecutive patients with RE: eight type 1, 36 type 2, four type 3. and 28 type 4. A population of 30 healthy subjects was enrolled too. A voice recording for each subject was performed and the analysis were performed using the Multi-Dimensional Voice Program. The parameters considered were: fundamental frequency (F0), Jitter% (Jitt%), Shimmer% (Shim%), and Noise Harmonics to Ratio (NHR). Statistical analyses were performed using GraphPad Prism 8 software. A level of significance of P < 0.05 was used.

The mean values and standard deviation for each parameter for the male group of patients affected by RE are: F0 101.06 (± 9.56) Hz, Jitt% 2.254 (±0.93), Shim% 9,037 (±2.21) and NHR 0.235 (±0.099). About the female group, the mean values are: F0 147,58 (±13.68) Hz, Jitt% 3,733 (±1.12), Shim% 11.172 (±3.54) and NHR 0.278 (±0.12). The difference between the types of RE and reference sample people in male and female groups are statistically significative (P < 0.05) for each parameter. In the female group all outcomes are statistically different except the F0 and NHR between healthy people and type III RE patients.

RE is one of the most common diseases of true vocal folds and the classification proposed by de Vincentiis is a synthesis of endoscopic findings. In this paper we underline the change in vocal quality before surgery according a new type of RE classification.