Vocal Cords News and Research

RSS

The vocal cords, are composed of twin infoldings of mucous membrane stretched horizontally across the larynx. They vibrate, modulating the flow of air being expelled from the lungs during phonation.

Physicians say thyroid surgery safe for older people

Thyroid surgery is safe for older patients, say physicians who found only slight differences in rates of complications and hospital readmissions in a multi-year study.

20 Oct 2009

New tool developed to easily place assisted breathing devices under difficult circumstances

A new tool developed by a Medical College of Georgia resident and faculty member may make it easier to place assisted breathing devices under difficult circumstances.

19 Oct 2009

AAO-HNSF to issue the first guideline for helping physicians manage dysphonia

The American Academy of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery Foundation (AAO-HNSF) will issue the first--and only--national clinical practice guideline to help healthcare practitioners identify and manage patients with hoarseness, also known as dysphonia. The guideline emphasizes evidence-based management of hoarseness by clinicians, and educates patients on the prevalence of this common vocal health issue.

1 Sep 2009

Discovery of mutation in AIP gene associated with acromegaly

An indigenous family living in a mountainous area of Malaysian Borneo helped Van Andel Research Institute (VARI) researchers to discover information about genetic mutations associated with acromegaly, a form of gigantism that often results in enlarged hands, feet, and facial features.

24 Aug 2009

New voice care center

UT Southwestern Medical Center has gathered a team of specially trained physicians and therapists to launch a new center for voice care dedicated to disorders of the voice and larynx.

24 Nov 2008

Laser "microscalpel" to target individual cancer cells

Mechanical engineering Assistant Professor Adela Ben-Yakar at The University of Texas at Austin has developed a laser "microscalpel" that destroys a single cell while leaving nearby cells intact, which could improve the precision of surgeries for cancer, epilepsy and other diseases.

24 Jun 2008

New laser treatment for vocal-cord cancer

An innovative laser treatment for early vocal-cord cancer, developed at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), successfully restores patients' voices without radiotherapy or traditional surgery, which can permanently damage vocal quality.

6 May 2008

New Zeiss microscope peers into secret lives of cells

“See those white sparks?” asks Kirk Czymmek, as he points to the video on his computer screen of a highly magnified heart cell in action.

21 Nov 2007

Recent colds influence adverse respiratory events after surgery in children

For children undergoing general anesthesia for surgery or other procedures, the risks of several adverse respiratory (breathing-related) events are greater if the child has recently had a cold or other upper respiratory infection (URI).

24 Oct 2007

Occupational vocal cord dysfunction

Researchers from the UAB and the Vall d'Hebron Hospital have diagnosed two patients affected with vocal cord dysfunction, which causes coughing and difficulty in breathing due to irritating agents that are breathed in at the workplace.

10 Sep 2007

Some kids are being misdiagnosed with asthma

Vocal cord dysfunction (VCD) is the sudden, abnormal narrowing of the vocal cords during inhalation causing obstruction of the airflow, and is characterized by a noise that can mimic the sound of wheezing.

30 Aug 2007

New findings on vocal cord dysfunction

Vocal cord dysfunction (VCD) is the sudden, abnormal narrowing closure of the vocal cords during inhalation causing obstruction of the airflow, and is characterized by a noise that can mimic the sound of wheezing. A VCD attack can easily be mistaken for an asthma attack though it does not respond to asthma medications.

24 Aug 2007

Novel bioreactor to repair vocal chords

Damaged or diseased vocal cords can forever change and even silence the voices we love, from a family member's to a famous personality's.

31 Jul 2007

Virtual autopsy helps determine drownings

"Virtual autopsy" performed with multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) can aid forensics teams in determining if a person has drowned, according to a study published in the June issue of Radiology.

30 May 2007

Why music sound right to our ears!

The use of 12 tone intervals in the music of many human cultures is rooted in the physics of how our vocal anatomy produces speech, according to researchers at the Duke University Center for Cognitive Neuroscience.

28 May 2007

Ultra fast and ultra active: the strange life of the extraocular muscles

The eye, often called the window to the soul, may become a window to the mysteries of muscular dystrophy, a debilitating muscle disease that often leads to death in early adulthood.

2 May 2007

New alarm system protects nerves during surgery

An alarm tone warns the surgeon that the position of his scalpel is dangerously close to the nerve leading to the patient's vocal cords - the beep tone signals excessive pressure on the nerve.

8 Jan 2007

HOXA1 is a gene that's been looking for a disorder for a long time

Researchers at Children's Hospital Boston, who specialize in studying the genetics of rare eye-movement disorders, have found a rare genetic syndrome whose implications go far beyond the eye, raising intriguing questions about human cardiovascular and brain development.

12 Sep 2005

The ultimate get out for men, can't hear you - and my brain is to blame!

Oh come on - it's the ultimate get out for men!...scientists say they have now discovered that women's voices are more difficult for men to listen to, and process information from, than the voices of other men.

9 Aug 2005

Surgical technique provides the first permanent solution to treating vocal-cord spasms

The first large, long-term study of patients who had surgery to control vocal-cord spasms showed excellent results in the majority of cases, reports new UCLA research presented May 14 at the 126th Annual Meeting of the American Laryngological Association.

15 May 2005