vocal cord paralysis treatments

Alice · Feb 13, 2004

Hi.. new here so pls bear with me if I'm asking something that's been written about ad nauseum..
I have congential heart defects and over time have had many an operation. In 1979, afer replacing my aortic valve with a porcine valve, I ended up with a paralyzed vocal cord. No definitive answers to "why", just mumblings of "the nerve to that cord runs through the left side of the chest.. must have been moved during surgery.."

Since I was in college for theater at the time I went to an ENT and begged for help and was given the latest treatment: Teflon injected into the atrophied cord. OOPS. Turns out in 90% of cases this causes granuloma and may cause a chemical reaction creating polyps on the cord. Yup, that happened to me.

Fast forward 15 years and now I have been re-evaluated by a unit at Mass Eye and Ear infirmary for a three to four part procedure that will stretch the cord, stitch it into a better position, then bolster it with an implant. More info on the procedure can be found at www.thevoicedoctor.net under medialization.

My voice currently is not very loud, fatigues easily, and has a very limited range. I'm hoping for more stamina, more range, and more volume.

I'm searching the web, and joined this group as a result, to see if anyone else has had this procedure and if they found it worth it.

Now to explore what else this group has to offer.. glad you're here!
Thx..
Alice

ALCapshaw2 · Feb 14, 2004

Welcome to VR.com Alice.

I've heard of a couple of people having 'weak voices' following surgery but to the best of my knowledge that resolved in time. I've not heard of anyone having the procedure you describe. Good luck with your search!

One question: Do you still have that same porcine valve from 1979? If so, that's amazing durability for such a valve. I was under the impression they often 'wear out' in 8 to 12 years, at least in the Aortic Valve position.

'AL'

hensylee · Feb 14, 2004

One of our members said his (I think it was a he) voice has suffered, too. Perhaps he will see this and stop in to share what happened and the final results.

Heather Fisher · Feb 14, 2004

Hi Alice!

Welcome to VR.com! I am a speech-language pathologist and was trained in voice disorders in college. Of course I got my master's degree in 1980 and many things have changed since them. Voice is not one of my areas of specialty so I haven't kept up in that area. Most voice disorders do slowly recover after surgery. You might want to do some research with The American Speech Language Hearing Association (ASHA) about this procedure and see if they have any information about it's success rate. It sounds like an interesting procedure and I hope it will help you significantly! Good luck and let us know how things go!

Heather

Alice · Feb 14, 2004

ALCapshaw2 said:
Welcome to VR.com Alice.

I've heard of a couple of people having 'weak voices' following surgery but to the best of my knowledge that resolved in time. I've not heard of anyone having the procedure you describe. Good luck with your search!

One question: Do you still have that same porcine valve from 1979? If so, that's amazing durability for such a valve. I was under the impression they often 'wear out' in 8 to 12 years, at least in the Aortic Valve position.

'AL'