Mass Eye and Ear Laryngeal Dystonia Clinical Trial of New Drug Treatment

Researchers from Mass Eye and Ear conducted a clinical trial of sodium oxybate, an oral medication used to treat narcolepsy, for the treatment of laryngeal dystonia, an often-debilitating neurological condition that impacts speech.

This trial was inspired by patient reports of symptom improvements after consuming alcohol; sodium oxybate mimics some of the effects of alcohol on the central nervous system. According to the study in Annals of Neurology, voice symptoms improved by an average of 41% in patients with alcohol-responsive LD.

Study lead author Kristina Simonyan, MD, PhD, Dr med, vice chair for clinical research and director of laryngology research in the Department of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery at Mass Eye and Ear, explains the key findings.