One-Year Voice Outcomes after Angiolytic Laser Glottoplasty for Sulcus Vocalis

To evaluate the long-term efficacy of angiolytic laser-assisted glottoplasty in patients with sulcus vocalis by analyzing voice outcomes at 3 months, 6 months, and 1 year after surgery.

A retrospective review was conducted on 12 patients (9 males, 3 females) diagnosed with sulcus vocalis, comprising 6 type II and 6 type III cases, who were treated with angiolytic laser-assisted glottoplasty using a 532-nm diode laser. Voice outcomes were assessed preoperatively and at 3, 6, and 12 months postoperatively using perceptual (Grade, Roughness, Breathiness, Asthenia, and Strain), acoustic (fundamental frequency, jitter%, shimmer%, noise-to-harmonic ratio, and cepstral peak prominence [CPP]), and patient-reported outcome measures (Voice Handicap Index).

Significant long-term voice improvements were observed in perceptual parameters of roughness (R, P = 0.027) and breathiness (B, P = 0.001). Roughness improved at 6 months postoperatively but was not maintained at 1 year. Breathiness showed improvement after 3 months and remained improved throughout the 1-year follow-up. Acoustic analysis showed a significant increase in standard deviation of CPP in sentence production (σCPP_S; P = 0.047) at 1 year, suggesting improved phonatory efficiency during connected speech. Other voice parameters and patient-reported voice handicap showed no significant long-term changes.

Angiolytic laser-assisted glottoplasty provides modest but sustained improvement in perceptual and acoustic features of voice quality for up to one year in patients with sulcus vocalis. These findings support angiolytic laser glottoplasty as a minimally invasive option for patients with type II or III sulcus vocalis. Larger prospective studies are needed to validate long-term outcomes and identify predictors of treatment success.