[Long-term follow-up of autogenous fat injection for unilateral vocal cord paralysis].

Objective To study the long term results of autogenous fat injection for unilateral vocal cord paralysis. Methods Twenty cases with unilateral vocal cord paralysis were treated by autogenous fat injection into the thyroarytenoid muscle to achieve medialization. The patients were divided into 3 groups by hoarse degree before operation, all of them were followed more than 12 months with serial video laryngoscope and voice evaluation. The ratio between paralyzed vocal cord upper surface and that of the normal vocal cord were adopted as the measurement for the vocal cord volume changes before and after operation. Results 1. The volume of paralyzed vocal cord was increased . The degree of hoarse and normalized noise energy (NNE) were evaluated by objective methods after operation. 2. The hoarse symptom was less severe after operation than that before operation. The cure cases 3 to 6 months and over 12 months after operation were nearly the same. 3. NNE of over 12 months and 3 to 6 months after operation were not significantly different, but the postoperative NNE were different with that before operation. Conclusions Autologous fat injection was an effective method for treating unilateral vocal cord paralysis, and the long term effects were reliable.