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CC BY 4.0 · Semin Speech Lang 2024; 45(02): 137-151
DOI: 10.1055/s-0044-1779509
Adult Clinical Seminar

Intensive Voice Treatment following Botulinum Neurotoxin Injection for a Speaker with Abductor Laryngeal Dystonia: An Exploratory Case Study

Mindy Schnell 
1   Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Long Island University, Post, Greenvale, New York
,
Dianne Slavin 
1   Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Long Island University, Post, Greenvale, New York
› Author Affiliations Funding No funding was received for this work.
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Abstract

Abductor laryngeal dystonia (ABLD) is a rare neurological voice disorder which results in sporadic opening of the vocal folds during speech. Etiology is unknown, and to date there is no identified effective behavioral treatment for it. It is hypothesized that LSVT LOUD®, which was developed to treat dysphonia secondary to Parkinson's disease, may have application to speakers with ABLD to improve outcomes beyond that with botulinum neurotoxin (BoNT) treatment alone. The participant received one injection of BoNT in each vocal fold 2 to 3 months prior to initiating intensive voice therapy via teletherapy. Objective measures of vocal loudness (dB sound pressure level), maximum phonation time, and high/low pitch frequency (Hz) were recorded in all treatment sessions and follow-up sessions. Over the course of treatment, the participant showed steady gains in phonation time, volume, pitch range, and vocal quality with a substantial reduction in aphonic voice breaks by the end of the treatment program. Perceptual symptoms of ABLD were nearly undetectable by the participant and the clinicians up to 12 months posttreatment, with no additional BoNT injections. The results suggest that LSVT LOUD® following BoNT was effective, with long-lasting improvement in vocal function, for this speaker with ABLD.

Keywords

dysphonia - voice - LSVT - laryngeal dystonia - BoNT

Data Availability Statement

All data generated or analyzed during this study are available from the authors upon reasonable request.


Supplementary Material



Publication History

Article published online:
28 February 2024

© 2024. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, permitting unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction so long as the original work is properly cited. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

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