Summary
Objectives
To observe the cases of superior laryngeal nerve injury along with summarizing and
analyzing its clinical characteristics.
Methods
A total of 14 patients with unilateral superior laryngeal nerve injury (SLN) diagnosed
by laryngeal electromyography (LEMG) in our department from 2018 to 2020 were collected
as SLN injury group. A total of 14 healthy subjects with normal laryngeal electromyography
were recruited as normal group matched by age and sex. The etiology and LEMG of the
SLN injury group were analyzed, and the video stroboscopic manifestations of SLN injury
group and normal group were compared to see the characteristic video stroboscopic
manifestations of SLN injury.
Results
The most common causes of SLN injury were surgery and idiopathic etiology. Compared
with normal group, the most frequent video stroboscopic manifestations of SLN injury
group were vocal fold dyskinesia. Abnormal video stroboscopic manifestations occurred
in normal group except larynx deviation, epiglottic petiole deviation, and dyskinesia.
There was a significant difference between the two groups in various abnormal video
stroboscopic manifestations (P < 0.05). Time limit widening was the most common manifestation of LEMG.
Conclusions
Vocal fold dyskinesia was a prominent finding in SLN injury, laryngeal deviation and
epiglottic petiole deviation were relative specific signs of SLN injury. Vocal fold
bowing combined with shortening will contribute to the diagnosis of SLN injury. There
were no specific diagnostic signs for SLN injury, clinicians need further LEMG for
a firm diagnosis.
Key Words
To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
Purchase one-time access:
Academic & Personal: 24 hour online accessCorporate R&D Professionals: 24 hour online accessOne-time access price info
- For academic or personal research use, select 'Academic and Personal'
- For corporate R&D use, select 'Corporate R&D Professionals'
Subscribe:
Subscribe to Journal of VoiceAlready a print subscriber? Claim online access
Already an online subscriber? Sign in
Register: Create an account
Institutional Access: Sign in to ScienceDirect
REFERENCES
- Exploring the phonatory effects of external superior laryngeal nerve paralysis: an in vivo model [J].Laryngoscope. 2009; 119: 816-826
- Sensory dysphagia: a case series and proposed classification of an under recognized swallowing disorder [J].Head Neck. 2019; 41: E71-e78
- Effects of voice therapy on laryngeal motor units during phonation in chronic superior laryngeal nerve paresis dysphonia [J].J Voice. 2018; 32: 729-733
- Superior laryngeal nerve paresis and paralysis [J].J Voice. 1996; 10: 206-211
- Videostroboscopic findings in unilateral superior laryngeal nerve paralysis and paresis [J].Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2007; 136: 660-662
- An in vivo model of external superior laryngeal nerve paralysis: laryngoscopic findings [J].Laryngoscope. 2009; 119: 1017-1032
- Voice range in superior laryngeal nerve paresis and paralysis [J].J Voice. 1998; 12: 340-348
- Laryngeal-EMG: frequency of superior laryngeal nerve involvement in iatrogenic and non-iatrogenic vocal fold paralysis [J].Laryngorhinootologie. 2018; 97: 10555
- Partial superior laryngeal nerve (SLN) lesions before and after thyroid surgery [J].World J Surg. 1988; 12: 522-527
- Laryngeal electromyography: clinical application [J].J Voice. 2010; 24: 228-234
- Effects of asymmetric superior laryngeal nerve stimulation on glottic posture, acoustics, vibration [J].Laryngoscope. 2013; 123: 3110-3116
- Innervation of the human posterior cricoarytenoid muscle by the external branch of the superior laryngeal nerve [J].Head Neck. 2017; 39: 2200-2207
- Intraoperative monitoring of external branch of the superior laryngeal nerve: functional identification, motor integrity, and its role on vocal cord function [J].J Invest Surg. 2018; 31: 509-514
- Some aspects of vocal fold bowing [J].Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol. 1994; 103: 357-362
- Laryngeal features of external superior laryngeal nerve denervation: revisiting a century-old controversy [J].Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol. 2011; 120: 1-8
- Influence of superior laryngeal nerve injury on glottal configuration/function of thyroidectomy-induced unilateral vocal fold paralysis [J].Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2014; 151: 996-1002
- Functional role of human laryngeal nerve connections [J].Laryngoscope. 2011; 121: 2338-2343
- Value of laryngeal electromyography in diagnosis of vocal fold immobility [J].Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol. 2007; 116: 576-581
- Clinical diagnosis of unilateral superior laryngeal paralysis [J].Hunan Medicine. 1990; 7: 48-49
Article info
Publication history
Published online: June 17, 2022
Accepted:
April 13,
2022
Publication stage
In Press Corrected ProofFootnotes
Funding: This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation (No. 81970871).
Identification
Copyright
© 2022 Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of The Voice Foundation.
