Male to female vocal surgery - Feminization laryngoplasty: Case 29

She had a previous trach shave with no side effects on her voice.

These recordings are set to a fairly low resolution for the internet but do demonstrate the general sound and function of the vocal cords before and after this case of laryngeal reduction surgery. Much more detail is actually visible in the office. The videos when shown are oriented with the front down and the left vocal fold is on the right of the video. Orientation is discussed here. Please note: These examples of possible results should not be construed to represent what will be acheived in any other patient. Thus there are several examples of patients on the site

Pre Surgery

9 weeks

6 months

Reading passage

Pitch is described relative to C4 or middle C on the piano.

Pitch: about B2 - low in male range

(typical male speaking range about B2 - E3) Below with effort she moves up to a D3#

Pitch: about F3 (about 6 semitones higher than pre-op) soft quality

(normal female speaking range about E3 - A3)

Pitch: about

(normal female speaking range about E3 - A3)

Lowest pitch

Pitch: about C2 (normal male low range varies C1 - C3)

Pitch: about B2 (normal female low range varies between B2 - F3) this is a glide from high to lowest pitch.

Pitch: about

Highest pitch

Pitch: about E5

Pitch: about A3# - still stiff

Pitch: about

Vegetative sounds

coughing & throat clearing

slight change

Yell

loud phonation

definite change

Laryngoscopy

Views

Stroboscopy

saying the sound /i/

Her surgery was complicated by a post-operative infection that required a drain. She experienced a lot of swelling of the vocal cords and it took about two months for her voice to begin to smooth out.

(7/29/2007) I'm extremely happy with my end results and I sound like a normal female in every way and it has changed my life. I know I had some complications, but most of that was my own fault and I take full responsibility for that. I whispered when I shouldn't have whispered, I cleared my throat a lot and I wasn't supposed to do that, I could go on and on. All those things are so very important and I don't think I took them serious enough...I've grown a lot since then and realized a lot of mistakes on my part. However, even with the mistakes I made, my voice is really pretty and very feminine. It's not perfect and according to my Doctor at Duke, it never will be...but it's 1000% better than it used to be.