Unilateral Vocal Fold Suicide

Vocal fold paralysis is often the result of damage to the Vagus nerve (CN X) or anywhere along its pathway from the medulla to the larynx (Al-Khtoum et al., 2013). There are two types of vocal fold paralysis: unilateral and bilateral, depending on the lesion site and whether the damage is unilateral or bilateral, and partial or complete (Boone et al., 2014).
Unilateral vocal fold paralysis (UVFP) is the occurrence of only one vocal fold vibrating while the other is paralyzed, neither opening nor closing. Individuals with this type of paralysis may have a breathy/ hoarse voice, a decrease in phonation time, a decrease in loudness and monoloudness, diplophonia (production of 2 separate tones), and pitch breaks (Boone et al., 2014).