Bastian Voice Institute

06/14/2026

Beginning with the first 51 cases of R-CPD reported in 2019 with colleague Smithson, Dr. Bastian has raised global awareness of the disorder through peer-reviewed open-access publications, his public service website Laryngopedia (search "RCPD" on www.laryngopedia.com), YouTube educational content (), Zoom lectures worldwide, and in-person teaching. He has taught the diagnosis and treatment of R-CPD to a host of physicians on every continent except Antarctica.

06/09/2026

The terms Paradoxical Vocal Cord Motion (PVCM) and Vocal Cord Dysfunction (VCD) have long been used to describe episodic difficulty breathing. Yet both terms, though entrenched among laryngologists and speech pathologists, may obscure more than they clarify, suggesting that they be retired.

Drawing on extensive clinical experience, the author proposes that the phenomenon labeled PVCM/VCD is, in many cases, better understood as a nonorganic, behavioral disorder of laryngeal use—whether conscious or subconscious: https://laryngopedia.com/paradoxical-vocal-cord-motion-and-vocal-cord-dysfunction-should-these-terms-be-retired/

06/07/2026

Is a person's wheezing due to Asthma, "Asthma-MAXXING," or Nonorganic Wheezing?

The answer lies in understanding large-airway wheezing.

Some patients can voluntarily narrow their trachea and mainstem bronchi, amplifying the apparent severity of asthma ("asthma-maxxing").

Others can even convincingly simulate asthma and receive that diagnosis despite not having the condition:

If you would like to have an educational / informational Zoom call ...

06/04/2026

How do you distinguish between Essential Voice Tremor or Laryngeal Dystonia (Spasmodic Dysphonia) with an overwhelming Dystonic Voice Tremor component using vocal phenomenology alone?

Listening carefully to this patient audio sample reveals two key points of potential distinction: https://laryngopedia.com/understanding-the-distinction-between-essential-voice-tremor-and-dystonic-voice-tremor/

06/03/2026

Want to stay updated with new material published on Laryngopedia? Consider joining the newsletter, a once-per-month email that keeps you informed about new video clips, photo essays, and journal entries: laryngopedia.com/news

05/20/2026

A music teacher of young children with exceptionally heavy voice demands experienced a sudden and dramatic worsening of voice quality without any increase in voice use.

Videostroboscopy demonstrated generalized inflammation and a deep ulceration of the left vocal cord, appearing almost as though the surface tissue had sloughed away to a depth of 1–2 mm.

Because of apparent benefit observed in previous patients, treatment with the macrolide antibiotic azithromycin was also initiated.

Follow-up examination showed partial healing (filling in) of the ulcer and improvement in the inflammatory appearance of the vocal cords. A final follow-up examination was planned two months later, as most patients with this dramatic initial presentation eventually recover to near-normal voice function.

Read the full essay on Laryngopedia: https://laryngopedia.com/ulcerative-laryngitis/ -laryngitis-and-azithromycin-in-a-vocal

05/20/2026

What to Expect after Your Botox Injection for ABductory Spasmodic Dysphonia (AB-SD)

05/17/2026

Here is an example of a person who had profuse, exuberant RRP for some time, and had undergone surgical procedures with injection of cidofovir, and several additional injections of cidofovir in the office.

The day came after several interventions that no papillomas were seen. The initial speculation: The surgical clean-out was very precise, and “the lesions just haven’t returned YET.”

But after more than 20 years, there is still no sign of papillomas. Is she “cured,” or in “long-term remission?” And which of the three possible explanations mentioned above, or what combination, explains these many years free of disease?

PHOTO ESSAY: https://laryngopedia.com/recurrent-respiratory-papillomatosis-rrp-hpv-induced-lesions/ -papillomatosis-that-go-away-remission-or

05/15/2026

WHAT TO EXPECT | See How Dr. Robert Bastian Performs a EMG-Guided Botox Injection (in-office) for R-CPD (no-burp, inability to burp)

05/10/2026

Transverse cordotomy is an endoscopic surgical procedure performed on the posterior portion of the vocal cord to improve the airway at the level of the larynx.

It is most commonly performed for bilateral vocal cord paralysis, but may also be used in cases of glottic stenosis, where injury and subsequent scarring have caused the vocal cords to fuse or narrow the airway.

While this procedure can work very well, of course, the penalty to voice seems less predictable than after what Dr. Bastian believes to be a superior procedure called posterior commissuroplasty: https://laryngopedia.com/transverse-cordotomy/