A swallowing study, based on clinico-pathological evaluation, performed by video-fluoroscopy

Abstract

A clinico-pathological evaluation was performed on patients requiring nasogastric nutritional support. As a result, it was found that nasogastric tube feeding was common in patients with cerebrovascular diseases (CVD) and senile dementia of Alzheimer's type (SDAT). Pneumonia was anamnestic in many CVD patients, which was frequently the direct indication for nasogastric tube feeding and the major cause of death in these patients. On the other hand, pneumonia was not common in SDAT in which the major indication of nasogastric tube feeding was abnormal appetite. However, pneumonia was an infrequent cause of death in SDAT compared to CVD patients. The mean age in which nasogastric tube feeding was started was 8 years older in SDAT than CVD patients, however, there was no significant difference in the duration of nasogastric tube feeding ranging from initiation to death. A swallowing study, based on a clinico-pathological evaluation, was performed by video-fluoroscopy on healthy seniors and senior patients neurological diseases. There was no abnormal finding in the healthy seniors. Findings in CVD patients with single-sided neurological diseases indicated that 27.3% had moderate abnormalities and 18.2% had severe abnormalities. In CVD with bilateral defects, 35.7% had moderate abnormalities and 42.9% had severe abnormalities. Though even single-sided CVD defects can frequently cause swallowing disorder, oral food intake was maintained in nearly half of the patients with bilateral CVD, despite high incidence of severe swallowing disorder. In the mild SDAT group, rated on a scale from 0.5 to 1.0 according to the Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR), 11.1% had moderate swallowing disorder. In the CDR 2-3 group, 23.1% had moderate disability and 15.4% had severe disability. It appears that SDAT patients do not suffer from rapid deterioration in swallowing ability, which was relatively retained in this disease group. In Parkinson's disease patients with a Yahr grade of I-II, 55.6% had normal findings and 44.4% had mild abnormalities. In Yahr grade III-IV patients, 28.6% had mild and 28.6% had severe disability. Patients with severe dysfunction had a high incidence of silent aspiration. The swallowing function was maintained in the early course of mild Parkinson's disease patients, however the ability rapidly deteriorated with the course of the disease. The radiological findings of the swallowing study supported the clinico-pathological characteristics of each disease.