The influence of sour taste and cold temperature in pharyngeal transit duration in patients with stroke

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Classification of normal swallowing and oropharyngeal dysphagia using wavelet

Oropharyngeal dysphagia is characterized by any alteration in swallowing dynamics which may lead to malnutrition and aspiration pneumonia. Early diagnosis is crucial for the prognosis of patients with dysphagia, and the best method for swallowing dynamics assessment is swallowing videofluoroscopy, an exam performed with X-rays. Because it exposes patients to radiation, videofluoroscopy should not be performed frequently nor should it be prolonged. This study presents a non-invasive method for the pre-diagnosis of dysphagia based on the analysis of the swallowing acoustics, where the discrete wavelet transform plays an important role to increase sensitivity and specificity in the identification of dysphagic patients. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A eficácia da reabilitação em disfagia orofaríngea

TEMA: eficácia da reabilitação em disfagia orofaríngea. A atuação fonoaudiológica com disfagia orofaríngea em nosso País alcançou proporções significativas e merece neste momento atenção para que esta atuação esteja baseada em evidências científicas. As técnicas terapêuticas e a eficácia da reabilitação em disfagia orofaríngea têm sido estudadas desde a década de 70, alcançando seu ápice na década de 80 e 90. Poucos estudos têm relatado a eficácia da reabilitação em disfagia orofaríngea, sendo mais freqüente aqueles que têm se preocupado em provar os efeitos da técnica terapêutica na dinâmica da deglutição. No Brasil, as pesquisas em disfagia orofaríngea têm valorizado os procedimentos de avaliação, sendo poucos os trabalhos que tratam da reabilitação. OBJETIVO: apresentar uma análise crítica sobre a eficácia da reabilitação em disfagia orofaríngea. CONCLUSÃO: este artigo de revisão aponta que estudos não randomizados têm comprometido os resultados, uma vez que a casuística das pesquisas têm utilizado amostras muito heterogêneas, que incluem disfagias orofaríngeas mecânicas e neurogênicas ocasionadas por distintas etiologias. Além disto, os programas terapêuticos empregados são pouco descritivos comprometendo a reprodução por parte de outros pesquisadores. Tais achados sugerem a necessidade de estudos mais randomizados, talvez inicialmente por meio de estudos de casos que possam excluir as variáveis do controle da eficácia terapêutica. Outra sugestão seria empregar, assim como as pesquisas atuais têm proposto, escalas que possam medir o impacto do treinamento de deglutição nas condições nutricionais e pulmonares do indivíduo disfágico. Uma importante área da pesquisa, relacionada ao controle da eficiência e eficácia terapêutica, está nos estudos que objetivam estabelecer o grau de redução de custos hospitalares e em empresas de home care, mediante a atuação do fonoaudiólogo com a disfagia orofaríngea.

Disfagia e alterações emocionais

Swallowing function may be impaired by a number of conditions involving primary or associated emotional distress. When psychogenic dysphagia is suspected, routine investigation using radiological and manometric examination is inappropriate. These cases demand an evaluation of the individual as a whole, interesting the disease as well as the patient's personal problems and concerns. Five cases of patients complaining of swallowing difficulty and showing concurrent emotional distress were studied. Four individuals were anxious and one was depressed. Because of our approach, a close medical-patient-relationship was established. Afterwards, an explanation about the normal swallowing mechanisms and the role of the emotions on it was provided. All patients showed improvement of the symptom in the following 24 hours. Dysphagia can be found in anxiety, depression and conversion hysteria, with high incidence in the urban population of the third world countries. However, several professionals are unaware of these disorders. Our results suggest that this plain approach is an useful tool in managing dysphagic patients and it has validity even in individuals bearing dysphagia due to comproved organic disease. The results also emphasize the importance of the medical patient relationship and the utility of a hollistic evaluation of the disease.

Laryngeal mobility and dysphagia

The authors studied the utility of the physical test of laryngeal movement in swallowing disorders of the oropharyngeal region. Measurement and palpation of the larynx during deglutition were performed in the neck of 14 dysphagic patients and in two normal control groups. The normal groups were used to establish the pattern of the movement and the normal values of laryngeal elevation. Control elevation ranged from 1.80 to 2.50 cm. In eight patients laryngeal motion was defective and presented values ranging from zero to 1.50 cm. Palpation during laryngeal movement also revealed unexpected anomalous displacement such as lateral shifting and lowering of the larynx. In six patients with defective laryngeal motion, pharyngeal and upper esophageal sphincter function were also impaired. Direct measurement and palpation of laryngeal mobility during deglutition is a noninvasive method that can be used to evaluate dysphagia and the risk for aspiration. Also, it allows physical assessment of the evolution of the disorder.

Investigacao clinica da disfagia orofaringea

The accurate investigation of the oropharyngeal dysphagia demands a systematic sequence of physical examinations. The aim of the present work is to propose a practical rule to facilitate the clinical investigation and the management of dysphagic patients. After a detailed anamnesis, an endoscopic examination is carried out and several manouvers to observe the oral, pharyngeal and laryngeal functions are performed by the patient. Following, a second endoscopy is performed during swallows of several consistencies of food, to verify the impairment of the laryngeal and or pharyngeal activities. The elevation of the laryngeal cartilage is also evaluated.

O efeito do sabor azedo e da temperatura fria no tempo de trânsito faríngeo da deglutição em indivíduos após acidente vascular encefálico hemisférico isquêmico

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)