Treatment of ventricular dysphonia with botulinum toxin

Ventricular dysphonia, traditionally known as dysphonia plica ventricularis, is a voicing disorder in which the false vocal folds are used as a vibratory source in addition to or instead of the true vocal folds. Traditional treatment of ventricular dysphonia has been voice therapy, which may be slow to produce results if the false fold activity masks an underlying problem of the true folds, is long standing, or has produced hypertrophy of the supraglottic structures. We present seven cases of ventricular dysphonia treated with botulinum toxin injection into the false vocal folds followed by speech therapy. The addition of botulinum toxin to the treatment regimen speeds recovery of normal voicing and allows immediate evaluation of dynamic true vocal fold function by the treating professional.