Papers by Giovanna Baracca
Otolaryngology -- Head and Neck Surgery, 2011
The aim of this prospective study was to evaluate the effectiveness of fat injections in the trea... more The aim of this prospective study was to evaluate the effectiveness of fat injections in the treatment of velopharyngeal insufficiency (VPI). The study involved 10 patients (6 adults aged 19-48 years and 4 children aged 5-13 years) with mild/ moderate VPI who were injected with 3.5 to 8 mL of fat in the posterior, lateral pharyngeal walls and soft palate under general anaesthesia. A second fat-grafting procedure was performed in 2 patients to achieve further improvement. Nasoendoscopy revealed a reduction in the closure gap in all patients, and the perceptual evaluation demonstrated improved speech intelligibility and resonance and reduced nasal air leakage in all cases (P < .005). The aerodynamic assessment showed a significant reduction in nasal airflow during phonation (P < .05). Follow-up was 6 to 23 months. In conclusion, fat injections improved voice resonance and reduced nasal air escape in all treated cases and can be a promising alternative to major procedures, such as velopharyngoplasties, for the treatment of mild/moderate VPI.
Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, 2010
We present an experiment where voice quality of French and Italian dysphonic speakers was evaluat... more We present an experiment where voice quality of French and Italian dysphonic speakers was evaluated by French and Italian listeners, specialists in phoniatrics. Results showed that both groups of speakers were perceived in the same way by the two groups of listeners in term of overall severity and breathiness. But the perception of roughness is clearly language dependant. Italian listeners underestimate roughness compare to French listeners. If we link these results obtained in perception with measures obtained in speech production, we can make the hypothesis that it is a case of perception/production adaptation process.
Journal of voice : official journal of the Voice Foundation, Jan 17, 2015
The obvious perceptual differences between various singing styles like Western operatic and jazz ... more The obvious perceptual differences between various singing styles like Western operatic and jazz rely on specific dissimilarities in vocal technique. The present study focuses on differences in vibrato acoustics and in singer's formant as analyzed by a novel software tool, named BioVoice, based on robust high-resolution and adaptive techniques that have proven its validity on synthetic voice signals. A total of 48 professional singers were investigated (29 females; 19 males; 29 Western operatic; and 19 jazz). They were asked to sing "a cappella," but with artistic expression, a well-known musical phrase from Gershwin's Porgy and Bess, in their own style: either operatic or jazz. A specific sustained note was extracted for detailed vibrato analysis. Beside rate (s(-1)) and extent (cents), duration (seconds) and regularity were computed. Two new concepts are introduced: vibrato jitter and vibrato shimmer, by analogy with the traditional jitter and shimmer of voice si...
Acta otorhinolaryngologica Italica : organo ufficiale della Società italiana di otorinolaringologia e chirurgia cervico-facciale, 2011
Aims of this prospective study were to evaluate the results of vocal fold structural fat grafting... more Aims of this prospective study were to evaluate the results of vocal fold structural fat grafting for glottic insufficiency and to compare the outcomes obtained in unilateral vocal fold paralysis (UVFP) and congenital or acquired soft tissue defects in vocal folds. Sixty-six consecutive patients with breathy dysphonia, in 43 cases (aged 16-79 years) related to UVFP and in 23 cases (aged 16-67 years) related to vocal fold iatrogenic scar or sulcus vocalis, underwent autologous structural fat grafting into vocal folds. Lipoaspirates were centrifuged at 1200 g for 3 min to separate and remove blood, cell debris and the oily layer. The refined fat was injected under direct microlaryngoscopy in a multilayered way. The main outcome measures were grade, roughness, breathiness, asthenicity and strain (GRBAS) perceptual evaluation, maximum phonation time (MPT), self-assessed Voice Handicap Index (VHI), and voice acoustic analysis, considered pre-operatively and at 3 and 6 months after fat gr...
Textbook of Tinnitus, 2011
... Abbreviations Combi Combination hearing aid dB Decibel Hz Hertz SA Spontaneous activity TRT T... more ... Abbreviations Combi Combination hearing aid dB Decibel Hz Hertz SA Spontaneous activity TRT Tinnitus retraining therapy Introduction ... Chapter 74 Sound Stimulation Luca Del Bo, Giovanna Baracca, Stella Forti, and Arnaud Norena ...
Up to Date on Tinnitus, 2011
Otolaryngology -- Head and Neck Surgery, 2011
The aim of this prospective study was to evaluate the effectiveness of fat injections in the trea... more The aim of this prospective study was to evaluate the effectiveness of fat injections in the treatment of velopharyngeal insufficiency (VPI). The study involved 10 patients (6 adults aged 19-48 years and 4 children aged 5-13 years) with mild/ moderate VPI who were injected with 3.5 to 8 mL of fat in the posterior, lateral pharyngeal walls and soft palate under general anaesthesia. A second fat-grafting procedure was performed in 2 patients to achieve further improvement. Nasoendoscopy revealed a reduction in the closure gap in all patients, and the perceptual evaluation demonstrated improved speech intelligibility and resonance and reduced nasal air leakage in all cases (P < .005). The aerodynamic assessment showed a significant reduction in nasal airflow during phonation (P < .05). Follow-up was 6 to 23 months. In conclusion, fat injections improved voice resonance and reduced nasal air escape in all treated cases and can be a promising alternative to major procedures, such as velopharyngoplasties, for the treatment of mild/moderate VPI.
Logopedics Phoniatrics Vocology, 2011
The goal was to identify acoustic and aerodynamic indices that allow the discrimination of a beni... more The goal was to identify acoustic and aerodynamic indices that allow the discrimination of a benign organic dysphonic voice from a normal voice. Fifty-three patients affected by dysphonia caused by vocal folds benign lesions, and a control group were subjected to maximum phonation time (MPT) measurements, GRB perceptual evaluations and acoustic/aerodynamic tests. All analyzed variables except the airflow variation coefficient were significantly different between the two groups. The unique significant factors in the discrimination between healthy and dysphonic subjects were the aerodynamic indices of MPT and Glottal efficiency index, and the acoustic index Shimmer. These results show that a combination of three parameters can discriminate a voice deviance and highlight the importance of a multidimensional assessment for objective voice evaluation.
International Journal of Audiology, 2007
The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of TRT in patients suffering from tinnitus. Th... more The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of TRT in patients suffering from tinnitus. The tinnitus disorder affects about 10-15% of the population and, in one person out of a hundred, it is a disabling disorder. TRT treatment is based on Jastreboff&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;s neurophysiological model. TRT consists of two parts: counselling, and sound therapy by means of dedicated hearing aids and sound generators. It proved to be useful to reduce the symptoms related to tinnitus. Jastreboff&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;s structured interviews were proposed to a sample of 51 patients with tinnitus belonging to the I-II-III-IV classes according to Jastreboff. These patients were treated for 18 months. Sixty-eight percent of patients reported a reduction in the symptoms related to tinnitus, such as sleep disturbance, problems in concentration, and inability to relax. A percentage (64.7%) of patients thought that their quality of life was improved. Patients who had suffered from tinnitus for less than one year achieved significantly better results than patients who had suffered for a longer period of time. TRT is an effective tool in the treatment of tinnitus.
European Archives of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, 2014
Singers constitute a specific population that is particularly sensitive to vocal disability, whic... more Singers constitute a specific population that is particularly sensitive to vocal disability, which may have a higher impact on their quality of life compared to non-singers. A specific questionnaire, the Singing Voice Handicap Index (SVHI), was created and validated aimed to measure the physical, social, emotional and economic impacts of voice problems on the lives of singers. The aim of this study was to validate the Italian version of the SVHI. The validated English version of the SVHI was translated into Italian and then discussed with several voice care professionals. The Italian version of the SVHI was administered to 214 consecutive singers (91 males and 123 females, mean age: 32.62 ± 10.85). Voice problem complaints were expressed by 97 of the singers, while 117 were healthy and had no voice conditions. All subjects underwent a phoniatric consultation with videolaryngostroboscopy to ascertain the condition of the vocal folds. Internal consistency of the Italian version of the SVHI showed a Cronbach&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;s α of 0.97. The test-retest reliability was assessed by comparing the responses obtained by all subjects in two different administrations of the questionnaire; the difference was not significant (p = ns). The SVHI scores in healthy singers was significantly lower than the one obtained in the group of singers with a vocal fold abnormality (29.26 ± 25.72 and 45.62 ± 27.95, p &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt; 0.001, respectively). The Italian version of the SVHI was successfully validated as an instrument with proper internal consistency and reliability. It is a suitable instrument for the self-evaluation of handicaps related to voice problems in the context of singing.
Logopedics Phoniatrics Vocology, 2013
In this cross-language study, six Italian and six French voice experts evaluated perceptually the... more In this cross-language study, six Italian and six French voice experts evaluated perceptually the speech of 27 Italian and 40 French patients with dysphonia to determine if there were differences based on native language. French and Italian voice specialists agreed substantially in their evaluations of the overall grade of dysphonia and moderately concerning roughness and breathiness. No statistically signifi cant effects were found related to the language of the speakers with the exception of breathiness, a fi nding that was interpreted as being due to different voice pathologies in the patient groups. It was concluded that the perception of the overall grade of dysphonia and breathiness is not language-dependent, whereas the signifi cant difference in the perception of roughness may be related to a perception/adaption process.
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Papers by Giovanna Baracca