Change in Vocal Resonance Following Sinonasal Surgery.

OBJECTIVES: Delineate objective and clinician-perceived subjective changes in voice quality following sinonasal surgery. METHODS: Prospective cohort study of six adults who completed pre- and post-operative voice recordings which were analyzed for jitter, shimmer, noise to harmonic ratio (NHR), cepstral peak prominence (CPP), formant and anti-formant changes. Consensus auditory-perceptual evaluation of voice (CAPE-V) assessment was completed by two independent reviewers. Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to analyze the pre- and post-operative voice measures and CAPE-V scores. RESULTS: Four males underwent endoscopic sinus surgery, including two with concurrent septoplasty, and two females underwent septoplasty with inferior turbinate reduction. There was a statistically significant difference between pre- and post-operative formants 2 (F2) and 3 (F3) for the nasal consonant/n/. There was no statistically significant difference in pre- and post-operative formants 1-4 (F1-F4) for the nasal sounds /m/, /Ɛ/, and /i/, or in F1 and F4 for the sound /n/. However, the change in mean for F2-4/m/, F4/a/, F1-4/n/, and F2-4/i/ was greater than 50 Hz, which is clinically significant. There was no statistically significant difference in pre- and post-operative jitter, shimmer, CPP, NHR, or CAPE-V scores. CONCLUSION: Prior studies demonstrate variable changes in voice following sinonasal surgery. Our study revealed a clinically significant difference in formants. Lack of statistical significance is likely due to a small study population. Larger scale studies assessing objective and subjective measures of voice are planned to better define voice changes following sinonasal surgery.