Swallowing disturbances in the corticobasal syndrome.

Objectives: To determine the characteristics of swallowing and speech disturbances in patients with corticobasal syndrome (CBS) compared to healthy controls, and whether a subjective swallowing questionnaire, the NIH-Speech Pathology swallowing questionnaire (NIH-SQ), can predict swallowing impairment.

Methods: Twenty-four consecutive CBS patients underwent a swallowing assessment comprised of the NIH-SQ, ultrasound swallow study (US) and modified barium swallow (MBS) study. Healthy controls (n = 28) completed the NIH-SQ and the US.

Brief assessment of motor function: content validity and reliability of the oral motor scales.

Objective: The Brief Assessment of Motor Function consists of five 0- to 10-point hierarchical scales designed for rapid assessment of gross, fine, and oral motor skills. We describe the development and evaluation of the two Brief Assessment of Motor Function Oral Motor Scales: Oral Motor Articulation and Oral Motor Deglutition.

Design: This validation study employed an expert panel of 28 speech-language pathologists, who rated the Brief Assessment of Motor Function Oral Motor Scales items on a scale from 1 to 4 (disagree to agree) to establish content validity.

Oropharyngeal dysphagia assessment and treatment efficacy: setting the record straight (response to Campbell-Taylor).

In September 2008, an article was published in the Journal of the American Medical Directors Association criticizing current dysphagia assessment and management practices performed by speech-language pathologists in Long-Term Care (LTC) settings. In the same issue, an editorial invited dialogue on the points raised by Campbell-Taylor. We are responding to this call for dialogue.

Intravenous immune globulin in hereditary inclusion body myopathy: a pilot study.

Background: Hereditary Inclusion Body Myopathy (HIBM) is an autosomal recessive, adult onset, non-inflammatory neuromuscular disorder with no effective treatment. The causative gene, GNE, codes for UDP-N-acetylglucosamine 2-epimerase/N-acetylmannosamine kinase, which catalyzes the first two reactions in the synthesis of sialic acid. Reduced sialylation of muscle glycoproteins, such as alpha-dystroglycan and neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM), has been reported in HIBM.

Manofluorographic evaluation of swallowing in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and its relationship with clinical evaluation of swallowing.

The aim of this cross-sectional study was, first, to identify swallowing dysfunctions in an ALS population of 40 consecutive patients through combined videofluoroscopy and manometry. Secondly, these objective swallowing data were correlated with the functional feeding status as reported by the patient or family member. Videofluoroscopic evaluation showed dysfunctions in the oral phase of swallowing, pharyngeal initiation and pharyngeal transport.