Symptoms of oropharyngeal dysphagia, efficiency, and safety of swallowing in patients after treatment for head and neck cancer.

Purpose: The aim of this study is to investigate the relation between symptoms and signs of oropharyngeal dysphagia after treatment for head and neck cancer.

Methods: An observational analytical study with retrospective and prospective components was carried out including 25 adult and elderly patients with head and neck cancer who had completed the treatment at least 3 months before data collection. Data from the Eating Assessment Tool (EAT-10) protocol were analyzed, as well as from the videofluoroscopic swallowing exams.

Swallowing, nutritional status, and salivary flow in patients after head and neck cancer treatment, a pilot study.

Determine the relationship between swallowing function, nutritional status, and salivary flow in patients after head and neck cancer treatment. This pilot study included 17 patients. Swallowing was assessed through videofluoroscopy and surface electromyography (sEMG), nutritional status through anthropometry and dietary assessment, and salivary flow both with and without mechanical stimulation.

Immediate effect of neuromuscular electrical stimulation on swallowing function in individuals after oral and oropharyngeal cancer therapy.

Objective: To analyze the immediate effect of sensory and motor neuromuscular electrical stimulation, in oral and pharyngeal stages of swallowing, in individuals after oral and oropharyngeal cancer therapy.

Methods: The study was conducted on 10 individuals (mean age of 58 years) submitted to oral and oropharyngeal cancer therapy. The individuals were submitted to videofluoroscopy, during which they were randomly asked to swallow 5 mL of liquid, honey, and pudding, in three conditions: without stimulation, with sensory neuromuscular electrical stimulation, and with motor neuromuscular electrical stimulation.

Immediate effect of neuromuscular electrical stimulation on deglutition after treatment of laryngeal cancer: a case report.

The objective of this study was to verify the immediate effect of sensory and motor neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES), in the oral and pharyngeal phases of deglutition, in a 64 year male patient after laryngeal cancer treatment. Videofluoroscopy was performed during deglutition of 5 ml of honey and pudding, under three conditions: without stimulation, with sensory NMES, with motor NMES, randomly defined. The degree of dysfunction of deglutition (DOSS), the presence of food stasis (Eisenhuber scale), laryngeal penetration and laryngotracheal aspiration (PAS) and oral and pharyngeal transit time were evaluated.

Molecular typing of isolated from cystic fibrosis patients.

Background: The possibility of inter-human transmission of Mycobacterium abscessus in cystic fibrosis centres has been recently hypothesized suggesting the need for the molecular characterization of strains isolated from such patients.

Materials And Methods: One hundred and forty one isolates of M. abscessus grown from sputum samples of 29 patients with cystic fibrosis were genotyped resorting to variable number of tandem repeats (VNTR) determination and whole genome sequencing (WGS).

Multicenter evaluation of mycobacteria growth indicator tube (MGIT) compared with the BACTEC radiometric method, BBL biphasic growth medium and Löwenstein---Jensen medium.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the new BBL mycobacteria growth indicator tube (MGIT) in comparison with other media. METHODS: MGIT was evaluated in 10 Italian centers on 433 clinical samples, mainly of respiratory origin and mainly smear positive, in comparison with Löwenstein---Jensen and with one or more other methods represented, according to participating centers, by the BACTEC radiometric method or by the biphasic BBL Septi-Chek AFB system. While MGIT and Löwenstein---Jensen were used for all the samples, 285 of them were also inoculated in BACTEC vials and 274 in biphasic bottles.