Objective: Consuming less water (systemic dehydration) has long been thought to dehydrate the vocal folds. An in vivo, repeated measures study tested the assumption that systemic dehydration causes vocal fold dehydration. Proton density (PD)-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of rat vocal folds was employed to investigate (a) whether varying magnitudes of systemic dehydration would dehydrate the vocal folds and (b) whether systemic rehydration would rehydrate the vocal folds. Method: Male (n = 25) and female (n = 14) Sprague Dawley rats were imaged with 7T MRI, and normalized PD-weighted signal intensities were obtained at predehydration, following dehydration, and following rehydration. Animals were dehydrated to 1 of 3 levels by water withholding to induce body weight loss: mild (< 6% body weight loss), moderate (6%-10% body weight loss), and marked (>10% body weight loss). Results: There was a significant decrease in vocal fold signal intensities after moderate and marked dehydration (p < .0167). Rehydration increased the normalized signal intensity to predehydration levels for only the moderate group (p < .0167). Normalized signal intensity did not significantly change after mild dehydration or when the mildly dehydrated animals were rehydrated. Additionally, there were no significant differences in PD-weighted MRI normalized signal intensity between male and female rats (p >.05). Conclusion: This study provides evidence supporting clinical voice recommendations for rehydration by increasing water intake after an acute, moderate systemic dehydration event. However, acute systemic dehydration of mild levels did not dehydrate the vocal folds as observed by PD-weighted MRI. Future programmatic research will focus on chronic, recurring systemic dehydration.
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