[The long-term functional results following velopharyngoplasty as a speech-improving measure]

Forty three out of 148 patients who had undergone velopharyngeal flap graft between 1980 and 1992 to treat velopharyngeal insufficiency, and for whom pre- and postoperative data were available, were studied for the purpose of determining the long term morphological functional results of the treatment. Almost all of the 43 patients (93.5%) had received a velopharyngeal flap graft according to Sanvenero-Rosselli. The remaining 4.7% had received a velopharyngeal adhesion according to Stellmach. Four physicians from the fields of oral surgery, orthodontics, phoniatrics, and logopedics evaluated the pre- and postoperative data as well as the results of the follow-up examination according to subjective criteria from their respective disciplines. All four physicians judged that following velopharyngeal flap graft a gradual improvement in the ability to speak had been achieved in 86% of the patients in the follow-up study. At the time of the follow-up examination 70% of these cases were judged to have achieved a "good" qualitative level of articulation and 21% were judged to have achieved a "usefull" level. The best results were obtained in patients who had been operated on before the age of six. The reason is that in these young patients muscular malfunction and pathological movement patterns can be more easily modified than in older patients. In many cases additional speech improvement was achieved through logopedic therapy following the velopharyngeal flap graft. In the most difficult cases intensive therapy while the patients were still hospitalized proved to be especially effective.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)