Excessively low vocal pitch in women, usually called androphonia, is associated with the one of the side effect of androgenic or anabolic hormone, and with hormonal syndromes, and can be caused by reduced activity of the cricothyroid muscle. It
is
also
known to be resistant to any conservative treatment.
The vocal pitch is controlled by tension, mass and the lengthening of the vocal cord. So we can increase the vocal cord tension by cricothyroid approximation. A-P lengthening of the thyroid cartilage or scarring in the vocal cord by longitudinal
incision.
Among the above methods, cricothyroid approximation easily raised the vocal pitch by simulating the contraction of the cricothyroid muscle with suture. The vocal pitch elevation is always substantial, but postoperative reversion toward a lower
pitch is
to some extent irreversible.
The authors have experienced one case of androphonia treated by cricothyroid approximation with good results.
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