Velopharyngeal inadequacy: review of 16 consecutive cases

Kim, Jong Ryoul; Park, Bong Wook

Abstract

Velopharyngeal adequacy is the ability of speech mechanism to create a seal between the oral and the nasal cavities during speech. The basic components of the velopharyngeal mechanism are the soft palate, the lateral pharyngeal wall, the posterior pharyngeal wall, associated musculature of the soft palate and pharyngeal wall, and the adenoid mass. If velopharyngeal inadequacy exists, the complete seal cannot be obtained during speech, resulting in hypernasal speech quality. This report is the clinical and cephalometric study of 16 consecutive cases of velopharyngeal inadequacy which were corrected by superiorly based pharyngeal flaps with lateral port control. The summarized results were as follows; 1. The total number of patients was 16(11 males, 5 females). They all showed hypernasality and nasal emission at preoperative period. 2. Hypernasality and nasal emission were shown in 13 and 5 patients respectively at immediate after operation, and decreased as 4 and 2 respectively at 6 months after operation. 3. Most patients showed snoring after operation and slowly decreased during follow-up periods. 4. During follow-up periods, the pharyngeal flap was slightly elongated at its horizontal length and moved inferiorly at its attached base. But this change was not as significant as it influenced on the clinical results.