Voice Information
Date: Sun, 20 Feb 1994
From: Ed Sovik
Subject: voice
Some questions concerning voice surgery recently were posted
here on TRANSGEN and I just wanted to throw in my two cents worth.
Someone mentioned a voice surgeon in Philadelphia, PA who had
"accidently" discovered a new procedure to help the T* community
with their problems in obtaining a more feminine, and thus passable
voice. By the description presented, I believe the person being
referred to is Robert T. Sataloff. He and his team of speech pathology
professionals can be contacted by writing to this address:
Robert Thayer Sataloff, MD, DMA 1721 Pine Street Philadelphia,
PA 19103
In January 1992 he published an article in which he described
a patient who previously had a thyroidectomy, and due to complications
while healing developed a soprano voice even though the patient
was male and ad a barr. Two years following the development of
a soprano voice, the patient consultanted Dr. Sataloff to try
and retify the situation. To Sataloff's suprise (and the T* community's
great fortune), apparently this person experienced an overlapping
of the cricoid and thyroid cartilages after his thyroidectomy
and these two tissues fused together during healing. The consequent
effect was that his vocal pitch increased substantially (from
112 Hz to 214 Hz). More complete details can be found in
Sataloff, R. T.; J. R. Spiegel; L. M. Carrol; and R. J. Heuer.
"Male soprano voice: A rare complication of thyroidectomy." _Laryngoscope_
1992 Jan, 102(1), pp90-93.
Sataloff has subsequently termed this new procedure a "cricothyroid
fusion." This should not be confused with with another similar
procedure introduced by a Japanese surgeon in the early 1970s
(1973?) known as a "cricothyroid approximation" which has also
be used to help T* folk, albeit with limited and disappointing
results. Also, it is apparently different from the procedure developed
by Toby Mayer in Beverly Hills, CA of which I have scant information.
Anybody know of an article on Mayer's technique?
The problem for me herein is twofold: 1) money, and 2) reliability
of results. To address the issue of money, we have all heard and
experienced this one. Pertaining to this procedure, however, it
seems exorbitantly expensive. When I contact dr. Sataloff in the
Summer 1993 about doing the cricoid fusion procedure, he responded
by telling me about the cricoid approximation procedure he was
willing to do. In addition the cost was huge (I mean HUGE!). Depending
on the procedures used for the diagnostic evaluation and whether
you spend a night in the hospital, it could run as much as $12000-
15000 (this info is from when I contacted him in Summer 1993 and
may be out-of-date). Hefty price tag to sound like a girl! (Please
contact Dr. Sataloff directly for complete details on procedures,
pricing, and the like.) For me this is way out reach at present.
The problem of reliability of results is more significant, for
if it does not work, then it does not matter how much money you
have. According to one of the postings on TRANSGEN a few days
ago someone said that Sataloff had performed 25 such operations,
and that only one was unsuccessful, being completely reversible
in that event (which is what his article states as well). The
same claim has been made for Toby Mayer's procedure (nothing about
reversible from Mayer) in that he claims to experience a 95% success
rate. Also, an article in _Chrysalis Quarterly_ speaks very highly
of Dr. Mayer's procedure. However, I know of two (not knowing
them personally, but only knowing of them, I realize this is heresay)
people here in Seattle who went to Mayer who had highly undesirable
complications (i.e., not being able to swallow). This seems like
a high rate of failure for Seattle considering that this procedure
has only been performed a few humdred times by Mayer and has a
95% success rate (as stated by the literature provided by Mayer)
. This information about Mayer leads me to question the data of
experimental procedures provided by service providers as possibly
corrupted. I wonder what complications Mayer or Sataloff have
experienced with their procedures that they may not want us to
know about? Granted this line of questioning may seem a bit paranoid,
but considering the possible consequences (i.e., permanent loss
of voice, inability to swallow and thus eat, etc.), it is not
unreasonable.
Is there anyone on TRANSGEN who has had M2F voice surgery? If
so could you please relate your experience. Or if you have friend,
could you please have her post a note about the experience so
that we may all gain from it. Also, what other surgeons are doing
work in this area? I know of two others, but do not have the info
available at this moment.
For individuals unfamiliar with the literature on voice modification
for the T* communtity, here are some references that I have found
useful.
Oates, Jennifer; and Georgia Dacakis. "Voice, speech and language:
Considerations in the management of male-to-female transsexualism,"
in _Transsexualism and Sex Reassignment_ edited by A. W. Walters and
Michael W. Ross. New York: Oxford University Press, (1986), pp82-91
and pp171-174.
An excellent place to start. A good overview with an very handy
reference section. If the above Oates and Dacakis article is
unavailable, try obtaining its predecessor
Oates, Jennifer M.; and Georgia Dacakis. "Speech pathology
considerations in the management of transsexualism: A review."
_British Journal of Disorders in Communication_ 1983 Dec, 18(3),
pp139-151.
Other articles which are of interest include
Mount, Kay H.; and Shirley J. Salmon. "Changing the vocal
characteristics of a postoperative transsexual patient: A
longitudinal study." _Journal of Communication Disorders_ 1988,
21, pp229-238.
Mahieu, H. F.; and H. K. Schutte. "New surgical techniques for
voice improvement." _Archives of Otorhinolaryngology_ 1989,
246(5), pp397-402.
Gunzburger, Deborah. "An acustic analysis and perceptual data
concerning voice change in male-female trans-sexuals." _European
Journal of Disorders of Communication_ 1993, 28(1), pp13-21.
Wolfe, V. I.; D. L. Rutusnik; F. H. Smith; and G. Northrop.
"Intonation and fundamental frequency in male-to-female transsexuals."
_Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders_ 1990 Feb, 55(1), pp43-50.
The article by Mount and Salmon (1988) was very interesting to
me because it was the first time (and only) I had seen in the
professional literature of a formal method being presented to
assist T* client through non-surgical means. I also have another
article that happens to be in ** Italian **, and thus I am looking
for a translator. Anybody out there?
Any questions or comments concering this posting, feel free to
e-mail me directly or post stright to TRANSGEN.
Kathryn Forester University of Washington (Seattle) dullard@u.
washington.edu