Results of surgical treatment in patients with sulcus vocalis.

Sulcus vocalis is one of the most difficult to treat benign vocal fold pathologies. Ford distinguished three types of sulci: I- superficial, II- vergeture and III- true sulcus vocalis. The aim of the study was to assess the results of surgical treatment in patients with sulcus vocalis. Material of the study consisted of 24 patients with type II (16 subjects) and type III sulcus (8 subjects).

Methods: Videostroboscopy, perceptual voice assessment and objective acoustic voice analysis were performed before surgery and at 8 months of follow-up. All patients underwent surgical treatment as well as pre- and postsurgical voice therapy.

Results: Postsurgical stroboscopic examination showed statistically significant differences in symmetry and regularity of vibrations. Subjective perceptual voice assessment showed improvement in the grade of voice hoarseness, roughness, breathiness and strain. Objective voice analysis showed statistically significant difference only in jita parameter, in contrast to other examined parameters--although their values decreased after surgery, the change was not statistically significant.

Conclusions: Surgical treatment of sulcus should be considered in patients with severe voice problems; however, the end results are not always entirely satisfactory.