Contact Pressure Between the Vocal Folds in Reinke's Edema: Experimental Observations on an Excised Human Larynx

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the range of values of the contact pressure between the membranous vocal folds with Reinke's edema and to compare it to those observed in the absence of such a lesion. METHODS: Two human larynges were separately tested on the experimental bench, one of them with a bilateral loose swelling of the vocal folds. Once in a glottal prephonatory configuration, airflow was increased until achievement of self-sustained oscillations while recording aerodynamic, acoustic, electroglottographic data, and contact pressure between the folds. RESULTS: We observed well-documented variations in acoustical parameters, as the decrease of the fundamental frequency and the increase of the phonation threshold pressure. The results of the study also point to a significant increase in the amplitude of the contact pressure in presence of the Reinke's edema, and a lower degree of harmonicity of the produced sounds. CONCLUSION: This is the first report of ex vivo study of a larynx with Reinke's edema. It highlights the increase in the contact pressure during phonation, which possibly contributes to sustain the lesion once it appeared.