Article

Timely and efficient upper esophageal sphincter (UES) opening may be
critical to safe transport of food or liquid to the stomach and to prevent
aspiration during the swallow. The purpose of this study was to examine the
temporal and biomechanical characteristics of the UES opening in stroke
survivors. METHOD: Maximum duration and width of the UES opening were obtained
from 15 stroke survivors with aspiration and 15 stroke survivors with no
aspiration. The control group was composed of 15 normal subjects undergoing
videofluoroscopic swallowing examinations. The videofluoroscopic swallowing
examination protocol was as follows: two swallows of 5 ml thin liquid and two
swallows of 10 ml thin liquid. Statistical comparisons were made by repeated
measurements of analysis of variance, and the significance level was set at P <
0.025. RESULT: The stroke survivors with aspiration, the stroke survivors without
aspiration, and the control group differed significantly for duration of UES
opening (P < 0.01) but not maximum width of UES opening. CONCLUSION: Prolonged
UES opening may be related to prolonged pharyngeal transition of the bolus and
slower UES muscle contraction and hyolaryngeal excursion after stroke.

Langue : ANGLAIS