Velopharyngeal Insufficiency

When the soft palate does not move enough because of a cleft palate or for unknown reasons, this can lead to a speech difference called velopharyngeal insufficiency. The purpose of this research study is to test if soft palate exercises using a hand help breathing device will help improve the ability of the soft palate to close the area between the throat and nose and help improve speech.

Velopharyngeal insufficiency is defined as the inability of the soft palate to isolate the nasopharynx from the oropharynx. It is a frequent sequela in patients with a velopalatine cleft despite anatomical restoration of the soft palate by intravelar veloplasty at 6 months. If rehabilitation by a speech therapist is not successful, a pharyngoplasty can be discussed. In the last ten years, MRI was used in dynamic and static way, to analyzed velopharyngeal muscles, in particular Levator Veli Palatini. MRI could be used to identify the etiology of VPI in those patients, and thus allow personalized rehabilitation and surgical management. The aim of this study is to examine the differences in velopharyngeal motricity as well as velar muscles morphology, positioning, and symmetry of children with repaired cleft palate with different degrees of severity of velopharyngeal insufficiency (VPI), and children with labial cleft (noncleft palate anatomy).

Some head and neck cancer survivors develop velopharyngeal dysfunction (VPD), a problem with closure between the soft palate and throat that can cause nasal-sounding speech, food or liquid leaking into the nose, difficulty swallowing, and reduced quality of life. This study aims to better understand VPD in this population and to evaluate whether pharyngeal wall augmentation (plumping up the back wall of the throat) can improve speech and swallowing. Participants will undergo a multidisciplinary assessment including physical examination, flexible nasolaryngoscopy, speech recording and acoustic analysis, nasometry, clinical swallowing evaluation, and fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES). Aim 1: Determine the prevalence, severity, and functional impact of VPD in head and neck cancer survivors. Aim 2: Assess the feasibility and usefulness of advanced diagnostic tools for VPD. The investigators hypothesize that high nasalance scores (\>1 SD above normal) will accurately predict VPD with at least 75% positive predictive value and will correlate with worse communication-related quality of life (CPIB). The investigators also hypothesize that participants with VPD will have more pharyngeal residue or nasal regurgitation on FEES, and that these findings will be associated with lower swallowing-related quality of life (SWAL-QOL). Aim 3: Evaluate the effectiveness of pharyngeal wall augmentation injections for improving speech intelligibility and swallowing function. The investigators expect that this treatment will lead to measurable changes in both objective assessments and patient-reported outcomes. The results will help improve diagnosis and management of VPD in head and neck cancer survivors.

The aim of this study is to gain insight into the development of velopharyngeal insufficiency (VPI) in patients who have undergone maxillomandibular advancement osteotomy (MMA) as a treatment for obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS). A speech therapist evaluates nasality, speech, and swallowing before and after the surgery.