FOCUS ON: RESEARCH
Sound Advice
for Vocal Health
Dr. Lindsey Arviso and Baylor Scott & White The
Voice Center use state-of-the-art technology to
help patients from all walks of life find their voices.
he ability to speak: It’s one of
“They don’t value it until it’s gone—and
those things easily taken for then they can’t present at a conference,
granted until it is lost. At Baylor cheer at their kid’s basketball game or
Scott & White The Voice make a sales presentation,”
Center, patients find help Dr. Arviso explained.
and hope for disorders
of the voice and throat
through specialized
expertise paired with
advanced technology.
“Many patients find
immediate improvement,”
Lindsey Arviso, M.D.,
otolaryngologist at
The Voice Center, said.
“Sometimes, they can
go from having no voice
when they come in to
walking out talking.”
Baylor Scott & White
The Voice Center offers
“Many patients
find immediate
improvement.
Sometimes,
they can go
from having
no voice when
they come
in to walking
out talking.”
—Dr. Lindsey Arviso
Some of the world’s most
well-known musical artists
understand the impact of poor
vocal health. Millions of dollars
and careers often hang on how
their voice sounds on any given
day. For help, they have the
team at Baylor Scott & White
The Voice Center on speed dial.
“We have a concierge
aspect for performers and
will do on-site visits at concert
venues,” Dr. Arviso said. She
and her team have been
called to provide care for
emergencies with big-name
high-resolution imaging artists, helping them make
of the larynx—also decisions on whether they
known as the “voice box”—and laryngeal can perform. “It’s not something that
videostroboscopy, high-resolution we take lightly—we have to protect our
magnification and illumination of vocal artists,” she said.
cord vibration to analyze the biomechanics
“These are vocal athletes. Performers
of how a person makes sound. Dr. Arviso is need a place where they feel comfortable
a laryngology specialist, an ENT physician working to actively protect and recover
who specializes in disorders of the voice their voices,” she emphasized.
and throat and, along with specialized
speech-language pathologists,
provides comprehensive care of
patients with surgical or rehabilitative
voice needs.
While it can be frustrating and
sometimes painful to be unable to
speak, many people rely on their
ability to communicate vocally
in their professional lives as well.
From teachers to preachers,
physicians to attorneys, coaches
to call center employees and
more, many people need their
voice not only for their daily
PHYSICIAN PROFILE
Dr. Arviso
Speaks Up
An Arlington native, Dr. Lindsey
Arviso became interested in
disorders of the voice during her
residency in ear-nose-throat at
Emory University.
“I experienced the laryngology
clinic and saw the video exam of
vocal chords vibrating,” Dr. Arviso
remembers. “This is a part of the
body where you really do see
God-given talent, anatomy and
physiology all collide.”
Dr. Arviso completed a
fellowship in laryngology at
Vanderbilt’s Bill Wilkerson Voice
Center in Nashville, and became
skilled at diagnostic, therapeutic
and surgical interventions for
vocal disorders. Technically
challenging and demanding,
practicing laryngology
sometimes finds Dr. Arviso
performing hours-long surgeries
on a part of the body that is less
than a few centimeters in size, or
helping patients in her office with
procedures that are done while
the patients are awake.
“Our technology is constantly
improving, so there is more we
can treat,” she said.
Though she enjoys her work
in the music industry with A-list
performers, Dr. Arviso chooses to
use her own voice to help others.
“I only sing with my children,” she
said, “mostly just for fun. But I do
love a good karaoke night.”
For more information on how you
can support initiatives at The
Voice Center, please contact
Tim Moore at Timothy.Moore@
BSWHealth.org or 214.820.7877.
interactions, but also to earn
a living.
3
THE COMPASS / BAYLOR SCOTT & WHITE FOUNDATION NEWS / WINTER 2019