Phonoscopy--a valuable tool for otolaryngologists and speech-language pathologists in the management of dysphonic patients.

OBJECTIVES

To describe the phonoscopic evaluation, present a rationale for its use, and demonstrate its use in identifying laryngeal and vocal pathology.

STUDY DESIGN

Retrospective review.

METHODS

One hundred consecutive cases of new patients referred to our voice clinic team were reviewed. Findings on laryngeal examination as reported by the referring otolaryngologist were compared with our findings on "phonoscopic" examination. The phonoscopic examination combines the traditional voice evaluation performed by speech-language pathologists with endoscopy, which is relatively new to the voice clinician, to visualize the larynx during a broad sample of phonatory tasks. Patients with spasmodic dysphonia or tremor were excluded from the study.

RESULTS

In 26 cases of the 100 reviewed, our observations were consistent with those of the referring otolaryngologist. In 32 cases, we agreed with the referral diagnosis, but found additional factor(s) related to pathology. In 42 cases, our findings differed from those of the referring physician.

CONCLUSIONS

Results support our contention that phonoscopic evaluation can be of value to both the otolaryngologist and speech-language pathologist. It is particularly recommended in those patients whose dysphonia is unexplained following diagnostic laryngeal examination by the otolaryngologist, in cases in which voice use is a suspected factor in the pathology, and when voice therapy is a recommended treatment for a dysphonic patient.