Vocal Disorders in Patients with COVID 19 in Egypt
- 28 May 2021
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Springer Science and Business Media LLC in Indian Journal of Otolaryngology and Head & Neck Surgery
- Vol. 74 (S2), 3420-3426
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s12070-021-02663-0
Abstract
COVID-19 is considered a respiratory disease which has many symptoms associated with the larynx and the lungs infections. COVID-19 has wide spectrum of clinical features starting from mild symptoms to severe illness. Otolaryngological symptoms as nasal obstruction, loss of smell, taste dysfunction, sore throat, sticky mucus, and dysphagia are common in COVID-19 patients. Other vocal symptoms as dysphonia and phonesthenia are common in COVID-19 patients. The aim of this study is to detect the occurrence of vocal symptoms in COVID-19 patients in Egypt and to investigate the videolaryngoscopic findings associated with these symptoms. A total number of 106 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 were randomly assessed for vocal symptoms. The following epidemiological and clinical data were collected: age, gender, smoking consumption, general symptoms, otolaryngological and vocal symptoms as dysphonia and phonesthenia. Auditory perceptual assessment of voice and videolaryngoscopic examination were done. The occurrence of dysphonia and phonesthenia were observed in COVID -19 patients. Of the 106 patients, 84 patients (79%) were dysphonic, 20 (18.8%) patients were phonesthenic. The correlation of the different otolaryngological symptoms with dysphonia and phonesthenia were reported. A significant correlation was found between dysphonic patients and rhinorrhea, taste dysfunction, sore throat, and cough. A significant correlation was found between phonesthenic patients and allergic rhinitis. Videolaryngoscopic findings were detected in COVID-19 patients. Vocal fold congestion was found in 42 patients (39.6%), benign vocal fold swellings was found in 18 patients (16.9%), ventricular hypertrophy was found in 6 patients (0.05%), unilateral vocal fold immobility was found in 14 patients (13.2%), and vocal fold congestion associated with ventricular fold hypertrophy was found in 20 patients (18.8%).There was significant correlation of dysphonia and phonesthenia with vocal fold congestion (P value:0.001, P value:0.039 respectively).There was a significant correlation between cough and vocal fold congestion (P value: 0.000). Benign vocal fold swellings were associated with 18 patients (16.9%), but it was not statistically significant (P value: 0.931). Dysphonia and phonesthenia were observed in patients with mild to moderate COVID-19.The vocal symptoms were associated with different laryngoscopic findings, in which, vocal fold congestion was the commonest.Keywords
This publication has 22 references indexed in Scilit:
- Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): A Perspective from ChinaRadiology, 2020
- Clinical Characteristics of 138 Hospitalized Patients With 2019 Novel Coronavirus–Infected Pneumonia in Wuhan, ChinaJAMA, 2020
- Single-cell RNA-seq data analysis on the receptor ACE2 expression reveals the potential risk of different human organs vulnerable to 2019-nCoV infectionFrontiers of Medicine, 2020
- Neurological Manifestations of Hospitalized Patients with COVID-19 in Wuhan, China: a retrospective case series studyPublished by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory ,2020
- Coronavirus (COVID-19) Outbreak: What the Department of Radiology Should KnowJournal of the American College of Radiology, 2020
- A pneumonia outbreak associated with a new coronavirus of probable bat originNature, 2020
- Differential Susceptibility to Infectious Respiratory Diseases between Males and Females Linked to Sex-Specific Innate Immune Inflammatory ResponseFrontiers in Immunology, 2017
- Virus Infections in the Nervous SystemCell Host & Microbe, 2013
- Identification of a new human coronavirusNature Medicine, 2004
- Endolaryngeal contact pressuresJournal of Voice, 1998