Funding News - NINDS Seeks Patients with Vocal Fold Paralysis for a Study

Investigators at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) are seeking affected and unaffected members of families with vocal fold paralysis for a study to improve understanding of the disorder's pathophysiology and to relate the occurrence of the disorder to the genetic pattern of inheritance. Vocal fold paralysis—a rare, potentially life-threatening disorder—can cause difficulty with vocal fold movement for breathing, voice, and sometimes, swallowing.

To be eligible, participants must be ages 5 to 75 and members of a family with more than one person affected with vocal fold paralysis. Family members may qualify if their condition is due to an unknown cause and has occurred over at least two generations. Family members may not qualify if their condition was caused by traumatic injury.

The study will be conducted at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical Center in Bethesda, MD. All study-related expenses will be paid by the NIH. The study will be carried out under testing and safety standards of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

For more information, physicians should send a referral letter and a copy of the patient's recent medical records to Dr. Christy Ludlow, NINDS, NIH, Building 10, Room 5D38, 10 Center Drive MSC 1164, Bethesda, MD 20892-1164; telephone: (301) 496-9367; fax: (301) 480-0803; email: ludlowc@ninds.nih.gov.