Author(s)

Athina Zarachi¹, Dionysios Tafiadis^2,3, Nafsika Ziavra², Ioannis Kastanioudakis¹, Efthymis Dimakis⁴, Angelos Liontos⁵, Maria Argyropoulou⁶, Georgios Exarchakos¹

¹Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Ioannina, Ioannina, Greece.
²Department of Speech & Language Therapy, School of Health Sciences, University of Ioannina, Ioannina, Greece.
³Department of Health Sciences, Speech and Language Therapy, European University Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus.
⁴Division of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Department of Medical School, University of Ioannina, Ioannina, Greece.
⁵Faculty of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Ioannina, Ioannina, Greece.
⁶Faculty of Medicine, Department of Radiology, School of Health Sciences, University of Ioannina, Ioannina, Greece.

Objective(s): The aim of this study is to explore if there is a correlation between the typical voice classification and the oropharyngeal and laryngeal morphology, using video laryngeal stroboscopy and cervical posterior-anterior radiography on professional singers in Greece. Methods: 55 professional singers (28 females: 7 sopranos, 12 mezzo-sopranos, and 9 contraltos; 27 males: 8 tenors, 12 baritones and 7 basses) were recruited for this study. All participants underwent stroboscopic and cervical posterior-anterior radiographic imaging of their oral pharyngeal and laryngeal area. Additionally, the voice classification and features (e.g., height, weight) of individuals were correlated statistically. Results: Statistically significant correlations were observed between the VC of the participants with the Phonetic Area (PA) (r = −0.451, p = 0.001) and the VC with the Oral-pharyngeal Cavity (OPC) area (r = −0.402, p = 0.001) in the total sample. Specifically, in male singers, the PA and VC correlation was r = −0.319, p = 0.047, and the VC and OPC area was r = −0.328, p = 0.044. Likewise, in female singers, the PA area and VC and PA were r = −0.336, p = 0.041 and the OPC area and VC were r = −0.344, p = 0.039. The analysis confirmed no correlations between VC and height and body weight. Conclusions: The cervical posteroanterior radiography in conjunction with laryngeal stroboscopy provided new morphometric correlations of the VC of professional singers with their Oropharyngeal and Laryngeal Anatomy.

Laryngeal Anatomy, Professional Singers, Cervical Posteroanterior Radiography, Stroboscopy, Voice Classification

Zarachi, A. , Tafiadis, D. , Ziavra, N. , Kastanioudakis, I. , Dimakis, E. , Liontos, A. , Argyropoulou, M. and Exarchakos, G. (2021) Morphometric Correlations of the Voice Category (VC) in Professional Singers with Oropharyngeal and Laryngeal Anatomy Using Stroboscopy and Cervical Posteroanterior Radiography. International Journal of Otolaryngology and Head & Neck Surgery, 10, 277-299. doi: 10.4236/ijohns.2021.104026.