Can one recover from spasmodic dysphonia?

Abstract

A follow‐up study of 22 patients with audible symptoms of adductor spasmodic dysphonia (SD) is reported. The analysis included acoustic and electroglottographic recording of continuous speech and of sustained phonation. Using this method different patterns were described from the different possible associations of four features: voice stoppage, laryngealisation, tremor, breathy phonation. The evolution of the SD clinical and physical symptoms is reported in relation to the patterns observed at the onset of the study. The complete recovery of three patients was physically attested to over a lapse of several months. These patients exhibited an identical pattern with isolated voice stoppages and laryngealisation and were the youngest subjects of the sample. A completely similar pattern was observed only in one of the 19 other patients who did not improve. The aetiology of SD is discussed from the information obtained in the study.

Cross-linguistic study of vocal pathology: perceptual features of spasmodic dysphonia in French-speaking subjects

“…This is a remarkable finding. It verifies the characterisation of SD in French as reported in Chevrie-Muller et al, 1987 andKlap et al 1993 discussed above which does not include pitch breaks in the symptomotology.…”