What is it about?
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is beginning to be implemented into the clinical evaluation of velopharyngeal insufficiency (VPI). A sustained vowel is elicited on MRI to visualize the velopharyngeal gap where air enters the nose during speech. This paper examines the relationship between the velopharyngeal gap size measured in millimeters to ratings of hypernasality made from connected speech.
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Why is it important?
Cleft and craniofacial teams use teams for surgical selection and planning, but may be hesitant to adopt MRI because a sustained vowel is elicited. This study found that smaller gap sizes on MRI were associated with less severe ratings of hypernasality while larger gap sizes were associated with more severe ratings.
Perspectives
I hope this article provides additional confidence to cleft and craniofacial teams that MRI can be used clinically in the evaluation of VPI. It is important the gap that is captured during sustained phonation is representative of what is happening in connected speech and this reports provides preliminary support of this association.
Jessica Chee-Williams
Phoenix Children's Hospital
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Velopharyngeal Gap Size During Sustained Vowel Production Correlates With Perceptual Ratings of Hypernasality in Connected Speech, Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research, August 2024, American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA),
DOI: 10.1044/2024_jslhr-24-00221.
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