A PROSPECTIVE STUDY OF CLINICOPATHOLOGICAL EVALUATION OF THE PATIENTS WITH HOARSENESS OF VOICE

Abstract

Introduction: Hoarseness of voice is a defect of voice quality. Any condition that alters the regular, repetitive synchronous vibrations of vocal cord in conjunction with the breath stream that activates them may create the sounds that are called hoarseness. Hoarseness is defined as rough voice resulting from variations of intensity or periodicity of consecutive sound waves. The vocal apparatus consists of the larynx, respiratory system, and the supraglottic vocal tract.
Materials and methods: A prospective study conducted in Department of ENT, Department of ENT, Rangaraya Medical College, Kakinada, AP from January 2023 to October 2023. Patients presenting with hoarseness of voice to the department of ENT were included in the study. The patients who fulfilled the inclusion criteria were included in the study. Total 144 patients were observed. Study procedure was explained to each patient and informed consent was obtained. The data was expressed in number, percentage, mean and standard deviation. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS 20.0) version was used for analysis.
Results: Total 144 patients were included in the study. Male were more compared to females (table 1). Maximum number of patients were in the age group between 51-60 years (table 2). Maximum patients had benign lesions 23.6% (Table 3). 25% were smokers and 55.6% patients had no irritant exposure (Table 4). 33.3% patients had VC polyp and 6.70% had VC keratosis (table 5). 1% had history of direct trauma (table 6, graph 1). 36.1% patients did not have any associated symptoms along with hoarseness of voice (Table 7). Maximum patients 61.1% had benign and 38.9% patients had malignant lesions (table 8). 61.1% were manual labourers in comparison to other occupations (Table 9).
Conclusion: A person’s voice is the most important tool used for his day today communication and is a part of his being. Any change in voice should be an alarm bell for both the patient as well as the doctor. The clinician should immediately go for direct laryngoscopy if a definitive diagnosis cannot be made by indirect laryngoscopy or fibreoptic laryngoscopy. Associated clinical features with hoarseness of voice included heartburn, weight loss, dysphagia, dyspnoea, nasal regurgitation, stridor, cough, CAD and hawking sensation.