Preliminary Clinical Outcomes of VOIS‐Implant in Patients With Unilateral Vocal Fold Paralysis

xlomafota13 shared this article with you from Inoreader Preliminary Clinical Outcomes of VOIS‐Implant in Patients With Unilateral Vocal Fold Paralysis Via The Laryngoscope Objectives/Hypothesis Evaluation of the clinical outcomes after 6 months of treatment with a novel adjustable implant, the APrevent® Vocal-Implant-System (VOIS), in conjunction with medialization thyroplasty (MT) in patients with unilateral vocal fold paralysis. Study Design Prospective case series study at single tertiary referral center. Methods Preoperative and 1 week, 7 weeks, and 6 months postoperative glottal efficiency (maximum phonation time [MPT]), voice quality (including GRBAS-scores and acoustic parameters) and self-perceived voice-related handicap (voice handicap index [VHI-30]) were measured and analyzed, whereas type of vocal fold closure was evaluated and determined by flexible videolaryngoscopy based on Södersten and Lindestad classification (Wilcoxon signed-rank test). Results Thirteen patients underwent MT with VOIS under local anesthesia. Six months after surgery, the VHI-30 and MPT had improved from a preoperative mean of 75.0 ± 22.9 and 2.7 ± 2.1 s to a postoperative mean of 20.6 ± 19.7 and 6.3 ± 4.0 s, respectively. The mean GRBAS score improved from preoperative scores of Gpreop = 2.7, Rpreop = 2.6, Bpreop = 2.6, Apreop = 2.2, and Spreop = 2.0 to Gpostop = 0.3, Rpostop = 0.3, Bpostop = 0.2, Apostop = 0.2, and Spostop = 0.3 at 6 months postoperatively. Improved glottal closure was achieved in all patients (n = 13). Five patients received postoperative adjustment for the optimization of voice quality and glottal closure. No intra- or postoperative complications were observed. Significant improvements in acoustic parameters, i ncluding percentage jitter, percentage shimmer, and signal-to-noise ratio, were also observed after MT. All results were statistically significant (P < .05, Cohen's d > .8). Conclusions APrevent® VOIS-Implantation is a safe procedure with good voice outcomes. Postoperative adjustments can be performed smoothly to optimize voice quality and glottal closure. Level of Evidence III Laryngoscope, 2021 View on the web Inoreader. Take back control of your news feed. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.