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Laryngeal electromyography: a proposal for guidelines of the European Laryngological Society

  • Laryngology
  • Published:
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Abstract

Although recognized as a valuable diagnostic tool for more than 60 years, many laryngologists do not routinely use laryngeal electromyography (LEMG). This may be due to a persisting lack of agreement on methodology, interpretation, validity, and clinical application of LEMG. To achieve consensus in these fields, a laryngeal electromyography working group of European neurolaryngologic experts was formed in order to (1) evaluate guidelines for LEMG performance and (2) identify issues requiring further clarification. To obtain an overview of existing knowledge and research, English-language literature about LEMG was identified using Medline. Additionally, cited works not detected in the initial search were screened. Evidence-based recommendations for the performance and interpretation of LEMG and also for electrostimulation for functional evaluation were considered, as well as published reports based on expert opinion and single-institution retrospective case series. To assess the data obtained by this literature evaluation, the working group met five times and performed LEMG together on more than 20 patients. Subsequently, the results were presented and discussed at the 8th Congress of the European Laryngological Society in Vienna, Austria, September 1–4, 2010, and consensus was achieved in the following areas: (1) minimum requirements for the technical equipment required to perform and record LEMG; (2) best practical implementation of LEMG; (3) criteria for interpreting LEMG. Based on this consensus, prospective trials are planned to improve the quality of evidence guiding the proceedings of practitioners.

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Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge Jasmin Stadel for her writing assistance, and Markus Wittenberg and Johannes Kagerer for their support in solving technical challenges in LEMG. Furthermore, we would like to thank our photographer, Astrid Wetzel, for her excellent work.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Jena University Hospital, Lessingstrasse 2, 07740, Jena, Germany

    Gerd Fabian Volk, Mira Finkensieper & Orlando Guntinas-Lichius

  2. Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University of Wuerzburg, Wuerzburg, Germany

    Rudolf Hagen

  3. Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria

    Claus Pototschnig

  4. Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria

    Gerhard Friedrich

  5. Department of Audiology and Phoniatrics, Charité University Medicine Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    Tadeus Nawka

  6. Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany

    Christoph Arens

  7. Department of Otorhinolaryngology, SHR Wald-Klinikum Gera, Gera, Germany

    Andreas Mueller & Gerhard Foerster

  8. Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany

    Ruth Lang-Roth & Maria Grosheva

  9. Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Klinikum Stuttgart, Katharinenhospital, Stuttgart, Germany

    Christian Sittel

  10. Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Phoniatrics, Head and Neck Surgery, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland

    Claudio Storck

  11. Unit of Phoniatrics, ENT Department, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt

    M. Nasser Kotby

  12. Hans Berger Clinic of Neurology, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany

    Carsten M. Klingner

Authors
  1. Gerd Fabian Volk
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  2. Rudolf Hagen
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  3. Claus Pototschnig
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  4. Gerhard Friedrich
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  5. Tadeus Nawka
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  6. Christoph Arens
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  7. Andreas Mueller
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  8. Gerhard Foerster
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  9. Mira Finkensieper
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  10. Ruth Lang-Roth
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  11. Christian Sittel
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  12. Claudio Storck
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  13. Maria Grosheva
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  14. M. Nasser Kotby
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  15. Carsten M. Klingner
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  16. Orlando Guntinas-Lichius
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Orlando Guntinas-Lichius.

Additional information

For the Working group on Neurolaryngology of the European Laryngological Society.

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Volk, G.F., Hagen, R., Pototschnig, C. et al. Laryngeal electromyography: a proposal for guidelines of the European Laryngological Society. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol 269, 2227–2245 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-012-2036-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-012-2036-1

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