Back to Search
Start Over
The importance of the reproducibility of oropharyngeal swallowing in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. An electrophysiological study
- Publication Year :
- 2017
-
Abstract
- Objective To investigate electrophysiologically the reproducibility of oropharyngeal swallowing in patients with ALS. Methods We enrolled 26 ALS patients, both with and without clinical signs of dysphagia, and 30 age-matched controls. The reproducibility of the electrophysiological signals related to the oral phase (electromyographic activity of the submental/suprahyoid muscles) and the pharyngeal phase (laryngeal-pharyngeal mechanogram) of swallowing across repeated swallows was assessed. To do this we computed two similarity indexes (SI) by using previously described mathematical algorithms. Results The reproducibility of oropharyngeal swallowing was significantly reduced both in patients with and in those without clinical signs of dysphagia, with more marked alterations being detected in the dysphagic group. The SI of both phases of swallowing, oral and pharyngeal, correlated significantly with dysphagia severity and disease severity. Conclusions In ALS different pathophysiological mechanisms can alter the stereotyped motor behaviors underlying normal swallowing, thus reducing the reproducibility of the swallowing act. A decrease in swallowing reproducibility could be a preclinical sign of dysphagia and, beyond a certain threshold, a pathological hallmark of oropharyngeal dysphagia. Significance Electrophysiological assessment is a simple and useful tool for the early detection of swallowing abnormalities, and for the management of overt dysphagia in ALS.
- Subjects :
- Male
Neurology
Electromyography
Audiology
0302 clinical medicine
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
Deglutition Disorder
030223 otorhinolaryngology
Similarity index
medicine.diagnostic_test
digestive, oral, and skin physiology
Dysphagia
Middle Aged
Sensory Systems
medicine.anatomical_structure
Anesthesia
Suprahyoid muscles
Female
medicine.symptom
Case-Control Studie
Human
Adult
medicine.medical_specialty
Reproducibility of Result
03 medical and health sciences
stomatognathic system
Swallowing
ALS
Deglutition
Electrophysiological evaluation of swallowing
Motor neuron disease
Aged
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
Case-Control Studies
Deglutition Disorders
Humans
Pharynx
Reproducibility of Results
Neurology (clinical)
Physiology (medical)
otorhinolaryngologic diseases
medicine
business.industry
medicine.disease
business
Sensory System
030217 neurology & neurosurgery
Oropharyngeal dysphagia
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosi
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....d51f3d7dbc918103e5b12c10e0ff5e22