A voice sign in chorea : preliminary report / Walter B. Swift.

  • Swift, Walter Babcock, 1868-
Date:
1914
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: A voice sign in chorea : preliminary report / Walter B. Swift. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

    6/8 (page 4)
    movements of tongue and lips, to a condition in which speech is almost impossible. In rare cases speech has been temporarily lost.” Starr,1913: “Occasionally laryngeal and respiratory muscles are affected; breathing is irregular and noises are made in the throat. Diffi- culty in talking and swallowing are serious. In a few instances speech becomes affected early and may be so indistinct as to be scarcely under- stood; in these cases grunting noises may be made in the throat.” C'hurch and Peterson,®' 1900 : “The lips may be quickly pursed up or retracted, the tongue protruded or retracted, the teeth snapped together. In this way speech is impaired and becomes halting and explosive, due entirely to faults of articulation, as the larynx is practically never involved. The tongue is usually affected very early. Diaphragm is commonly invaded, causing irregularity of respiration and sometimes spasmodic noises, or peculiarly involuntary or clucking sounds.” Graves made a painstaking study of respiratory irregularities which by a suit- able self-icgistering apjiaiatus he finds practically always present, even in mild cases, . . . and persist long after the more noticeable symptoms disappear. Oppenheim,®® 1901: “Tongue and other articulatory organs often take part in the twitchings. The tongrre is throwm around in the morrth or protrudes through the teeth, causing a certain amount of disturbance of speech. The wmrds are tossed out suddenly, broken off, or indistinct, separated by irregular res[)iratory movements. Gurgling and smacking noises are also produced by the action of the glossal musculature. Speech may be so disturbed the ])atient cannot utter a word for days or weeks. Kespiratory muscles are generally affected, especially the diaphragm; irregular, spasmodic breathing occurs. Muscles of phonation are rarely involved.” SUMMAKY OF PREVIOUS LITERATURE To sum up, the literature contains many varied and vague terms in description of the voice in chorea. Among these such terms as “stutter- ing” “voice affected,” “irregularities,” “wurnt of coordination and persis- tence in the muscular act,” “strained sound,” “embarrassed,” “strange alteration,” “squeaky voice,” “disturbed,” “defective,” “confused,” “indis- tinct and difficult,” quicker than normal,” “hesitation to incoherence,” “all degrees of speech disturbance are seen !” “halting and explosive.” Any uniform statement of simple fact is everyw-here lacking, making in toto a hodgepodge of inconsistencies. 30. Starr: Nervous Diseases, Organic and Functional, 1!)13, p. 780. 31. Church and Peterson. 32. Oppenheim: Diseases of the Nervous System, 1004.