Clinical Manifestation of Nebulin-Associated Nemaline Myopathy.

Background And Objectives: Nemaline myopathy (NM) is a genetically heterogeneous inherited myopathy related with at least 12 genes, whereas pathogenic variants in gene are the most common genetic cause. The clinical spectrum of NM caused by NEB pathogenic variants (NM-) is very broad, ranging from mild to severe presentations manifesting with generalized weakness, as well as respiratory and bulbar involvement. There is currently not enough data regarding the progression of the disease.

Decannulation: a retrospective cohort study of clinical and swallowing indicators of success.

Objective: To investigate the clinical and swallowing indicators related to a successful decannulation process during the hospital stay.

Methods: A retrospective cohort clinical study. The study sample comprised a heterogeneous patient population who had submitted to a tracheostomy procedure in a tertiary hospital.

Characteristics of postintubation dysphagia in ICU patients in the context of the COVID-19 outbreak: A report of 920 cases from a Brazilian reference center.

The purpose of this research was to identify risk factors that were independently related to the maintenance of a swallowing dysfunction in patients affected by critical COVID-19. We conducted a prospective observational cohort study of critical patients with COVID-19, who were admitted to a COVID-19 dedicated intensive care unit (ICU) and required prolonged orotracheal intubation (≥48 hours). Demographic and clinical data were collected at ICU admission and/or at hospital discharge or in-hospital death.

Risk Factors for the Development of Persistent Stuttering: What Every Pediatrician Should Know.

Early identification and adequate treatment of children who stutter is important, since it has an impact on speech development. Considering the importance of aiding pediatricians to recognize children at risk for developing persistent stuttering, the aim of the present study was to correlate speech fluency characteristics of children, whose parents reported stuttering behaviors, to the risk factors of persistent stuttering. The participants were 419 children aged 2:0 to 11:11 years, who were divided into two groups: children with stuttering complaints (CSC), composed of children whose parents reported the presence of stuttering behaviors; and children with no stuttering complaint (CNSCs), composed of children with no stuttering behaviors.

The effects of treatment timing on the management of patients with multiple facial fractures and on the self-perception of TMD recovery.

Objective: To investigate the effects of time on the orofacial functions and on the self-perception of temporomandibular disorders (TMD) recovery in a population of patients with multiple facial fractures.

Methods: Orofacial functions and self-perception of TMD recovery was verified in patients with midface and/or lower face fractures. Patients were divided according to the time between fracture reduction and the clinical assessments: 0-1 month (Group 1), 1-3 months (Group 2), and 15 >3 months (Group 3).

Linguistic-Cognitive Outcomes in Children with Acute Lymphoid Leukemia: An Exploratory Study.

Background: Acute lymphoid leukemia (ALL) is the most prevalent cancer of childhood. Impairment in linguistic and memory skills is a possible late sequela in cancer survivors that can limit their quality of life and the overall performance of the individual in society. There is evidence that survivors of ALL treated exclusively with chemotherapy demonstrate significant differences in long-term linguistic and memory functions and also changes in neuroanatomical integrity.

Frequency of speech disruptions in Parkinson's Disease and developmental stuttering: A comparison among speech tasks.

Objective: To analyze the frequency of speech disruptions across different speech tasks, comparing the performance of individuals with Parkinson's Disease (PD) and DS.

Method: Participants were 20 people with PD, 20 people with DS and 40 fluent individuals. Speech samples were recorded during monologue speech, choral and solo oral reading.

Dysphagia and associated clinical markers in neurologically intact children with respiratory disease.

Objective: The identification of oropharyngeal aspiration is paramount since it can have negative consequences on a compromised respiratory status. Our hypothesis was that dysphagia in neurologically intact children with respiratory disease is associated to specific clinical markers.

Study Design: Using the medical files we conducted a retrospective, observational cohort study on children admitted to the pediatric hospital unit due to respiratory disease.

Screening protocol for dysphagia in adults: comparison with videofluoroscopic findings.

Objectives: To compare the videofluoroscopic findings of patients with suspected oropharyngeal dysphagia with the results of a clinical screening protocol.

Methods: A retrospective observational cohort study was conducted on all consecutive patients with suspected oropharyngeal dysphagia between March 2015 and February 2016 who were assigned to receive a videofluoroscopic assessment of swallowing. All patients were first submitted to videofluoroscopy and then to the clinical assessment of swallowing.

Oral motor and electromyographic characterization of adults with facial fractures: a comparison between different fracture severities.

Objectives:: To characterize the oral motor system of adults with facial injuries and to compare the oral motor performance/function between two different groups.

Methods:: An observational, descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted in 38 patients presenting with facial trauma who were assigned to the Division of Orofacial Myology of a Brazilian School Hospital. Patients were divided into two groups: Group 1 (G1) consisted of 19 patients who were submitted to open reduction of at least one facial fracture, and Group 2 (G2) consisted of 19 individuals who were submitted to closed fracture reduction with maxillomandibular fixation.

Randomized clinical trial: the use of SpeechEasy® in stuttering treatment.

Background: Numerous studies have demonstrated the benefit of devices delivering altered auditory feedback (AAF) as a therapeutic alternative for those who stutter.

Aims: The effectiveness of a device delivering AAF (SpeechEasy®) was compared with behavioural techniques in the treatment of stuttering in a randomized clinical trial.

Methods & Procedures: Two groups of adults who stutter participated: group 1 consisted of 10 men and one woman aged 21-42 years (mean = 30.

Oral transit time: a critical review of the literature.

Introduction: Oral transit time is one of the parameters observed during the clinical assessment of the swallowing function. The importance of this parameter is due to its impact on the total duration of a meal, whose consequence can be an unfavorable nutritional prognostic.

Objective: To document scientific papers that measure oral transit time in healthy subjects.

Two-dimensional perceptual videofluoroscopic swallowing analysis of the pharyngeal phase in patients older than 50 years.

Background: Videofluoroscopy is considered the "gold standard" procedure for the evaluation of swallowing by most units that treat patients with dysphagia, having a great impact in decision making, not only in therapeutic terms, but also in determining the prognosis.

Aim: To propose and to verify the reproducibility of the results of a perceptual two-dimensional videofluoroscopic protocol for the analysis of the pharyngeal phase of swallowing in a population of healthy adults.

Methods: Participants were 20 healthy adults, of both genders, with ages between 50 and 65 years.

Clinical prognostic indicators of dysphagia following prolonged orotracheal intubation in ICU patients.

Introduction: The development of postextubation swallowing dysfunction is well documented in the literature with high prevalence in most studies. However, there are relatively few studies with specific outcomes that focus on the follow-up of these patients until hospital discharge. The purpose of our study was to determine prognostic indicators of dysphagia in ICU patients submitted to prolonged orotracheal intubation (OTI).

Oral motor movements and swallowing in patients with myotonic dystrophy type 1.

Oropharyngeal dysphagia and esophageal motility disorders were found to be the most important causes of aspiration pneumonia in patients with myotonic dystrophy. The purpose of this report was to evaluate clinical characteristics of the oral motor movements and swallowing of individuals with myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1) using a standardized clinical protocol and surface electromyography (sEMG). Participants were 40 individuals divided in two groups: G1 composed of 20 adults with DM1 and G2 composed of 20 healthy volunteers paired by age and gender to the individuals in G1.

Exchange of disfluency with age from function to content words in Brazilian Portuguese speakers who do and do not stutter.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the exchange of disfluencies from function words to content words with age in Brazilian Portuguese speakers who do and do not stutter. Ninety stuttering individuals and 90 controls, native speakers of Brazilian Portuguese, were divided into three age groups (children, adolescents and adults). The study method involved analyzing the occurrence of stuttering on content and function words based on spontaneous speech samples.

Rehabilitative management of swallowing and oral-motor movements in patients with tetanus of a public service in Brazil.

When looking at developing countries, the prolonged intensive medical and nursing care required by many patients places extra demands on an already stretched healthcare budget. The purpose of this study was to verify the effectiveness of a systematic rehabilitative program for swallowing and oral-motor movements in intensive care unit patients with the diagnosis of tetanus. Forty-five patients who were clinically diagnosed with tetanus were included in the study.

Syntactic structural assignment in Brazilian Portuguese-speaking children with specific language impairment.

Purpose: In this study, the authors examined the comprehension of sentences with predicates and reflexives that are linked to a nonadjacent noun as a test of the hierarchical ordering deficit (HOD) hypothesis. That hypothesis and more modern versions posit that children with specific language impairment (SLI) have difficulty in establishing nonadjacent (hierarchical) relations among elements of a sentence. The authors also tested whether additional working memory demands in constructions containing reflexives affected the extent to which children with SLI incorrectly structure sentences as indicated by their picture-pointing comprehension responses.

Reprint of: stuttering treatment control using P300 event-related potentials.

Unlabelled: Positron emission tomography studies during speech have indicated a failure to show the normal activation of auditory cortical areas in stuttering individuals. In the present study, P300 event-related potentials were used to investigate possible effects of behavioral treatment on the pattern of signal amplitude and latency between waves. In order to compare variations in P300 measurements, a control group paired by age and gender to the group of stutterers, was included in the study.

Stuttering treatment control using P300 event-related potentials.

Unlabelled: Positron emission tomography studies during speech have indicated a failure to show the normal activation of auditory cortical areas in stuttering individuals. In the present study, P300 event-related potentials were used to investigate possible effects of behavioral treatment on the pattern of signal amplitude and latency between waves. In order to compare variations in P300 measurements, a control group paired by age and gender to the group of stutterers, was included in the study.

Emerging issues concerning the education of speech and language pathologists and audiologists in Brazil and South America.

Diversity is one of the major characteristics of Brazil and all South America. This paper presents an overview of the current situation of the education of speech and language pathologists (SLP) and audiologists in Brazil and in several other countries of South America. This paper also discusses the main challenges shared by these countries.

Electromyographic and ultrasonographic assessment of the masseter muscle in normal individuals: a pilot study.

Background: recent studies have used ultrasonography with the purpose of measuring muscle cuts.

Aim: to characterize the motor control and the morphology of the masseter muscle in normal individuals, verifying the compatibility between surface electromyography and ultrasonography.

Method: five adult individuals, with no alterations of the stomatognathic system.

Oral sensorimotor function for feeding in patients with tetanus.

Tetanus still remains a significant health problem in developing countries; it is a serious disease with a high mortality rate. The purpose of this study was to characterize the oral sensorimotor function for feeding in patients with tetanus. Thirteen patients clinically diagnosed with tetanus and admitted to an intensive care unit between December of 2005 and May of 2007 underwent a screening tool for dysphagia, involving the assessment of clinical features and 2 swallowing tests.

Mandibular movement patterns during speech in subjects with temporomandibular disorders and in asymptomatic individuals.

The mandibular movements used during speech modify space to allow different articulation postures proper for each sound. Temporomandibular disorders (TMD) may cause modifications in these movements due to joint and muscular conditions. The aim of this study was to verify the amplitude and the characterization of the mandibular movements during speech, using computerized electrognathography, in individuals with TMD and in asymptomatic individuals, analyzing possible interferences of these dysfunctions.