Journal of Voice · Nov 10, 2025

Factors Influencing Voice Outcomes After Intracordal Trafermin Injection in Age-Related Vocal Fold Atrophy

By Hasegawa T, Watanabe Y

OBJECTIVE: Age-related vocal fold atrophy (ARVA) is a voice disorder due to age-related degeneration of the vocal fold mucosa and muscles, leading to hoarseness. This study aimed to identify factors predicting voice improvement after intracordal trafermin injections for ARVA. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective, single-institution study. SETTING: Data of 181 patients (42 females and 139 male s; mean age: 66.2 years) who received intracordal trafermin injections at the Tokyo Voice Center between 2015 and 2024. METHODS: To predict the efficacy of intracordal trafermin injection with respect to voice improvement, several factors were evaluated, including age, sex, and pre and postinjection voice data, including maximum phonation time (MPT), pitch range (PR), mean flow rate (MFR), and voice handicap index (VHI). Welch's t test and analysis of covariance were used for the analysis. RESULTS: In the 181 patients treated, MPT and PR increased from 15.1 seconds to 19.1 seconds and 23.7-27.2 semitones, respectively, while MFR decreased from 270.8 mL/s to 199.5 mL/s, and VHI scores improved from 44.7 to 26.0. Furthermore, all measured voice parameters significantly improved after treatment. Covariance analysis showed that postinjection MPT, PR, MFR, and VHI were significantly influenced by sex and preinjection MPT; age and preinjection PR; preinjective MFR; and preinjection MFR and VHI, respectively. CONCLUSION: In intracordal trafermin injection, all postinjection voice data (MPT, PR, MFR, and VHI) were affected by their respective preinjection values. Preinjection voice data may serve as predictors of voice improvement.

doi.org/10.1016/j.jvoice.2025.10.032PubMed 41219097Interventions