Article

It is a major issue to diagnose and detect oropharyngeal dysphagia in
the early stage of ALS in order to avoid pulmonary and nutritional complications.
The aim of this study was to validate a simple clinical test, the
Volume-Viscosity Swallow Test (V-VST), to detect oropharyngeal dysphagia in this
population. METHODS: Twenty patients were included in this study
(mean age: 66.1+/-8.13, six women). All patients had their swallowing function
assessed by videofluoroscopy and V-VST. RESULTS: Among these 20 patients, 15
presented oropharyngeal dysphagia, diagnosed by videofluoroscopy, and five had
normal swallowing. Norris score was lower in patients with oropharyngeal
dysphagia compared to the patients with normal swallowing (27+/-6 versus 36+/-2;
P=0.003). Among the 15 patients with oropharyngeal dysphagia, 14 had abnormal
V-VST, and only one had normal V-VST. The sensibility of V-VST to detect
oropharyngeal dysphagia in these patients with ALS was of 93%, and the
specificity was of 80% (P=0.007). There was no significant difference between the
two populations for ALSFRS score (22+/-6 versus 20+/-6) and body mass index (BMI)
(26+/-6 versus 26+/-6kg/m(2)). CONCLUSION: The V-VST presented good sensibility
and specificity. It may be interesting to use it systematically for the detection
of oropharyngeal dysphagia in ALS, after confirming these results on a wider
patient sample.
CI - Copyright (c) 2012. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.

Langue : ANGLAIS