Otolaryngology

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Welcome to the USF Health Voice Center

In recognition of World Voice Day on April 21, 2023, laryngologists and speech-language pathologists at the USF Health Voice Center hosted a unique and engaging event dedicated to helping performers maintain and enhance their voice health.

The Multidisciplinary Approach 

USF Health Voice Center

The USF Health Voice Center is the only multidisciplinary academic voice center in the Tampa Bay Area. Our mission is to provide state of the art, personalized, compassionate, and evidence-based care to patients with voice, upper airway, and swallowing disorders.

Our center is committed to treating patients with a multidisciplinary team approach focused on patient-centered care while integrating innovation and standardized algorithms of care to optimize the patient experience and produce positive outcomes.

Custom Care

Our center is proud to provide multidisciplinary care to all our patients with voice, swallowing and upper airway disorders. All patients are assessed jointly by a laryngologist and a speech pathologist to provide optimal diagnosis and management.

We recognize that every patient is unique, with specific needs. Our team of providers customizes a care plan to suit the specific needs of every patient.

Our team is part of multidisciplinary collaborations through our partners at USF Health and Tampa General Hospital.

USF doctors lead research project using your voice to detect early signs of diseases, disorders

The National Institutes of Health awarded USF millions of dollars this month to develop a database of patient voices to train artificial intelligence for medicine. USF Health’s Dr. Yael Bensoussan is leading the research project called, "Voice as a Biomarker of Health." 

Click here to view article and video. 

Voice disorders can really impact patients’ lives

The USF Health Voice Center treats patients with disorders of the upper airway, voice and swallowing. “Voice disorders can really impact patients' lives as our voices are so important for communicating, socializing and working, especially in the new "zoom era,”’ said the center’s director, Yael Bensoussan, MD, MSc, who is also an assistant professor of Otolaryngology in the Morsani College of Medicine.

Click here to view video and and learn more. 

Bay area man treated for rare disorder that causes airway to narrow

Click here to view article with USF Health's own otolaryngologist head and neck surgeon Dr. Yassmeen Abdel-Aty. 

Services

Conditions We Treat

Providers of the USF Voice Center treat all conditions related to voice, upper airway and swallowing disorders including:

  • Airway Disorders
  • Benign Voice Lesions (Nodules, Polyps Cysts)
  • Bilateral Vocal Cord Paralysis
  • Care of the professional voice
  • Cervical Dystonia
  • Cricopharyngeal Hypertrophy 
  • Cricopharyngeal Spasm
  • Chronic Cough
  • Chronic Throat Clearing
  • Dysphagia/Swallowing Problem 
  • Dysphonia/Voice Problem
  • Essential Voice Tremor
  • Gender-Affirming voice care
  • Glottic Stenosis
  • Irritable Larynx Syndrome
  • Laryngeal Cancer 
  • Laryngeal Dystonia
  • Leukoplakia 
  • Muscle Tension Dysphonia
  • Oropharyngeal Dysphagia
  • Pre-cancerous Lesions and Early Laryngeal Cancer
  • Presbyphonia or Aging Voice
  • Recurrent Respiratory Papillomatosis
  • Reinke's Edema 
  • Retrograde Cricopharyngeal Dysfunction (RCPD) / No Burp Syndrome 
  • Spasmodic Dysphonia or Laryngeal Dysfunction
  • Subglottic Stenosis
  • Sulcus Vocalis
  • Tracheostomy Dependence
  • Unilateral vocal fold paralysis
  • Upper esophageal sphincter dysfunction or spasm
  • Vocal Cord Dysfunction (VCD)/Paradoxical Vocal Fold Motion (PVFM)
  • Vocal Fold Atrophy 
  • Vocal Fold Granuloma 
  • Vocal Hemorrhage 
  • Vocal Fatigue 
  • Vocal Fold Scar 
  • Zenker’s Diverticulum

Evaluations

The evaluation of a voice disorder may include a combination of tests. We also work closely with our ENT, allergy, and pulmonary faculty.

  • A videostroboscopy
  • Laryngeal function testing
  • Cough spirometry testing
  • Expiratory/inspiratory muscle strength testing.

Management and Treatments Offered

  • Feminization voice surgery
  • In-office laryngeal procedures
  • Modified Barium Swallow Study
  • Pharyngeal Manometry
  • Swallowing therapy
  • Tracheal and Crico-tracheal resection
  • Thyroplasty
  • Voice evaluation with acoustic and aerodynamic measure
  • Voice therapy for voice disorders

Patient Resources

Therapy We Provide

  • Biofeedback treatment with surface electromyography (sEMG)
  • Lingual strengthening with biofeedback using a portable device
  • LSVT LOUD to treat Parkinson’s Disease
  • Neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES)
  • Respiratory training for improved cough and swallow function –Expiratory muscle strength training (EMST)
  • Specialized voice therapy for professional voice users (singers, actors, voice actors)
  • Swallow strengthening exercise
  • Swallowing Therapy including education regarding your swallowing diagnosis
  • Upper Airway Therapy for ILO/PVFM and chronic cough/throat clearing
  • Voice Therapy including education regarding your vocal diagnosis

Meet our Experts 

 


USF Health Laryngectomy Clinic
Located at the USF Health South Tampa Center for Advanced Healthcare (STC)
ENT Clinic, 2nd Floor
2 Tampa General Cir.
Tampa, FL 33606

USF Health Making Life Better