The life-cycle and restoration of the human vocal fold

To better understand the challenges of designing therapies to treat damaged vocal fold lamina propria, it is essential to understand the biophysical and pathophysiological mechanisms involved in vocal fold development, maintenance, injury, and aging. This review critically analyses these points to try and direct future efforts and new strategies toward science-based solutions.

MEDLINE, Ovid Embase, and Wed of Science databases were used to identify relevant literature. A scoping review was performed following the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses extension for scoping reviews checklist.

The layered arrangement of the vocal fold, develops during early childhood and is maintained during adulthood unless injury occurs. The stellate cells of the macular flava are likely to be important in this process. The capacity for vocal fold regeneration and growth is lost during adulthood and repair results in the deposition of fibrous tissue from resident fibroblasts. With advancing age, viscoelastic tissue declines, possibly due to cell senescence. Strategies aimed at replacing fibrous tissue within the vocal folds must either stimulate resident cells or implant new cells to secrete healthy extracellular protein. Injection of basic fibroblast growth factor is the most widely reported therapy that aims to achieve this.

The pathways involved in vocal fold development, maintenance and aging are incompletely understood. Improved understanding has the potential to identify new treatment targets that could potentially overcome loss of vocal fold vibratory tissue.