Publication:

Correlation of electroglottograph with vocal cord pathology

Background Vocal cord disorders are very commonly encountered in ENT Outpatient. Electroglottogram is a non-invasive method for the examination of the vocal fold vibrations.  It exerts no influence at all on articulation and production of sound and is cost effective. The aim of the present study was to validate the clinical correlation of electroglottogram in patients presenting with hoarseness of voice.

Methods 30 patients with history of hoarseness of voice and 30 normals were selected from ENT outpatient and inpatient department over a period of 2 years. All subjects underwent detailed ENT history taking, clinical examination, rigid laryngoscopy and electroglottography and results were documented.

Results Electroglottography waveforms of various voice disorders like vocal cord nodule, polyp, papilloma and haemangioma showed specific changes like double peak or notch in closing phase of waveform in case of mass lesion over the vocal cords and fuzzy waveform with prolonged closing time in case of vocal cord palsy. Significant difference was noted in certain electroglottographic parameters for phonated vowels /a/, /i/ and /u/ for certain vocal cord disorders.

Conclusions Electroglottograph helps in diagnosing the pathology related to vocal cords, whether it is mass lesion over the vocal cords or vocal cord palsy but to differentiate in between mass lesions, clinical examination has to be done to confirm the diagnosis.