Deglutition Disorders ; diagnosis ; etiology ; Humans ; Inhalation

We report the CT findings of diffuse esophageal spasm (DES) in a patient with dysphagia. Although an uncommon condition, DES should be included in the differential diagnosis if relatively long and symmetric segmental esophageal wall thickening and an epiphrenic esophageal diverticulum are noted at CT.
Deglutition Disorders ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Diverticulum, Esophageal ; Esophageal Spasm, Diffuse* ; Humans

Although anterior cervical fusion provides an excellent choice for variable cervical pathologic conditions. However the potential risk of complications involved with its use have been the reason for its being less then universally accepted. The authors experienced 10 cases(5.8%) of failed anterior cervical surgery among the total of 171 during the past 5 years. The patients in our series averaged 52.9 years of age(range 26-75), consisted of 9 men and 1 woman. The clinical presentations were nuchal pain(80%), radiculopathy(50%), myelopathy(10%) and dysphagia (10%). The causes of failed anterior cervical surgery included 6 hardware failures and 4 graft failures. Salvage procedures included 9 anterior approach and 1 posterior approach. The mean follow up period was 15 months. All patients had achieved solid bony fusion in addition to marked symtomatic improvements of 70%(in 7 cases). The results of our study indicates that in order to reduce the need for salvage operations, accurate diagnosis, skillful surgical techniques are necessary.
Deglutition Disorders ; Diagnosis ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Male ; Transplants

Intramural dissection of the esophagus is a rare esophageal disorder which reveals characteristic endoscopic and radiologic features. Some authors have recognized that this injury is an intermediate stage between a transmural esophageal rupture (Boerhaave's syndrome) and an esophageal mucosal tear (Mallory-Weiss syndrome). Presenting symptoms are sudden severe retrosternal pain, hematemesis, odynophagia, and dysphagia. The diagnosis is made by contrast esophagography, esophageal endoscopy, or both. Conservative management is usually successful. Surgery should be reserved for the cases of protracted disease or perforation with mediastinitis. We report a case of spontaneous intramural esophageal dissection, in which the symptom of dysphagia did not improve with a conservative management. Then we treated with an endoscopic incision of the septum between the true and false lumens using a needle type papillotome.
Deglutition Disorders ; Diagnosis ; Endoscopy ; Esophagus* ; Hematemesis ; Mediastinitis ; Needles ; Rupture

PURPOSE: Laparoscopic total fundoplication is the standard surgery for gastroesophageal reflux disease. However, partial fundoplication may be a viable alternative. Here, we conducted a nationwide survey of partial fundoplication in Korea. METHODS: The Korean Anti-Reflux Surgery study group recorded 32 cases of partial fundoplication at eight hospitals between September 2009 and January 2016. The surgical outcomes and postoperative adverse symptoms in these cases were evaluated and compared with 86 cases of total fundoplication. RESULTS: Anterior partial fundoplication was performed in 20 cases (62.5%) and posterior in 12 (37.5%). In most cases, partial fundoplication was a secondary procedure after operations for other conditions. Half of patients who underwent partial fundoplication had typical symptoms at the time of initial diagnosis, and most of them showed excellent (68.8%), good (25.0%), or fair (6.3%) symptom resolution at discharge. Compared to total fundoplication, partial fundoplication showed no difference in the resolution rate of typical and atypical symptoms. However, adverse symptoms such as dysphagia, difficult belching, gas bloating and flatulence were less common after partial fundoplication. CONCLUSION: Although antireflux surgery is not popular in Korea and total fundoplication is the primary surgical choice for gastroesophageal reflux disease, partial fundoplication may be useful in certain conditions because it has less postoperative adverse symptoms but similar efficacy to total fundoplication.
Deglutition Disorders ; Diagnosis ; Eructation ; Flatulence ; Fundoplication* ; Gastroesophageal Reflux ; Humans ; Korea*

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the psychometric quality and feasibility of measurements for screening dysphagia in older adults to identify the 'right tool' for nurses to use in nursing homes. METHODS: A systematic review was done. Electronic databases were searched for studies related to dysphagia screening measurements. A checklist was used to evaluate the psychometric quality and applicability. Tools were evaluated for feasible incorporation into routine care by nurses. RESULTS: 29 tools from 31 studies were identified. Dysphagia screening tools with an acceptable validity and reliability had sensitivity between 68% and 100% and specificity between 52% and 100%. The Gugging Swallowing Screen (GUSS) and the Standardized Swallowing Assessment (SSA) were the tools with high psychometric quality, especially with high sensitivity, that nurses could perform feasibly to identify the risk and to grade the severity of dysphagia and aspiration of nursing home residents. CONCLUSION: Results show that GUSS and SSA are reliable and sensitive tools for screening dysphagia which nurses can use in nursing homes. Further research is needed to examine feasibility of screening with identified tools, and also, to establish effective and standardized protocols for these tools so they can be effectively incorporated into routine care.
Databases, Factual ; Deglutition ; Deglutition Disorders/*diagnosis ; Humans ; Nursing Homes ; Sensitivity and Specificity

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Impedance analysis using high-resolution impedance manometry (HRIM) enables the recognition of pharyngeal residue in patients with oropharyngeal dysphagia. The aims of this study were to evaluate appropriate criteria for impedance analysis in a large patient cohort, as well as the diagnostic accuracy and agreement of analysis performed by HRIM trainees. METHODS: We reviewed 33 controls (13 males; median age, 61.2 years) and 104 oropharyngeal dysphagia patients (61 males; median age, 70.4 years) who underwent a flexible endoscopic evaluation of swallowing study (FEES) and HRIM. Two experts compared the pharyngeal residue on FEES and impedance color pattern at 1,000, 1,500 and 2,000 Omega of the impedance bar. Three trainees were given a 60 minutes tutorial to determine the diagnostic accuracy and agreement of this analysis. RESULTS: The diagnostic sensitivity of experts for predicting liquid residue was 73.1% for 1,000 Omega, 96.2% for 1,500 Omega and 100% for 2,000 Omega. Significantly higher sensitivity was observed at 1,500 Omega compared to 1,000 Omega (P < 0.001). The diagnostic specificity of experts for liquid residue was 98.3% for 1,000 Omega, 96.6% for 1,500 Omega and 83.1% for 2,000 Omega. There was a higher specificity at 1,500 Omega compared to 2,000 Omega (P = 0.008). The kappa value among the 3 trainees was 0.89 and the diagnostic accuracy of the trainees for liquid residue was comparable to that of the experts. CONCLUSIONS: The impedance analysis at 1,500 Omega provides more accurate information for the detection of liquid residue, irrespective of the level of expertise.
Cohort Studies ; Deglutition ; Deglutition Disorders* ; Diagnosis ; Electric Impedance* ; Fees and Charges ; Humans ; Male ; Manometry* ; Pharynx ; Sensitivity and Specificity

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the final diagnosis of patients with unexplained dysphagia and the clinical and laboratory findings supporting the diagnosis. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed 143 patients with dysphagia of unclear etiology who underwent a videofluoroscopic swallowing study (VFSS). The medical records were reviewed, and patients with a previous history of diseases that could affect swallowing were categorized into a missed group. The remaining patients were divided into an abnormal or normal VFSS group based on the VFSS findings. The clinical course and final diagnosis of each patient were examined. RESULTS: Among the 143 patients, 62 (43%) had a previous history of diseases that could affect swallowing. Of the remaining 81 patients, 58 (72.5%) had normal VFSS findings and 23 (27.5%) had abnormal VFSS findings. A clear cause of dysphagia was not identified in 9 of the 23 patients. In patients in whom a cause was determined, myopathy was the most common cause (n=6), followed by laryngeal neuropathy (n=4) and drug-induced dysphagia (n=3). The mean ages of the patients in the normal and abnormal VFSS groups differed significantly (62.52±15.00 vs. 76.83±10.24 years, respectively; p<0.001 by Student t-test). CONCLUSION: Careful history taking and physical examination are the most important approaches for evaluating patients with unexplained swallowing difficulty. Even if VFSS findings are normal in the pharyngeal phase, some patients may need additional examinations. Electrodiagnostic studies and laboratory tests should be considered for patients with abnormal VFSS findings.
Deglutition ; Deglutition Disorders* ; Diagnosis* ; Humans ; Medical Records ; Muscular Diseases ; Physical Examination ; Retrospective Studies

OBJECTIVE: To examine the relation between the presence of penetration or aspiration and the occurrence of the clinical indicators of dysphagia. The presence of penetration or aspiration is closely related to the clinical indicators of dysphagia. It is essential to understand these relationships in order to implement proper diagnosis and treatment of dysphagia. METHODS: Fifty-eight poststroke survivors were divided into two groups: patients with or without penetration or aspiration. Medical records and videofluoroscopic swallowing examinations were reviewed. The occurrence of clinical indicators of dysphagia between two groups was analyzed with Cross Tabulation and the Pearson chi-square test (p<0.05). RESULTS: Poststroke survivors with penetration or aspiration had significantly high occurrences of delayed initiation of the swallow (p=0.04) and reduced hyolaryngeal elevation (p<0.01) than those without penetration or aspiration. CONCLUSION: The results of this study indicate that delayed initiation of the swallow is a strong physiological indicator of penetration or aspiration during the oral stage of swallowing in poststroke survivors. For the pharyngeal stage of swallowing, hyoid and laryngeal elevation is a key event related to occurrence of penetration or aspiration. Clinical indicators should be investigated further to allow appropriate implementation of treatment strategies for stroke survivors.
Deglutition ; Deglutition Disorders* ; Diagnosis ; Humans ; Medical Records ; Oral Stage ; Stroke ; Survivors*

OBJECTIVE: The risk of barium aspiration has been reported through animal and clinical studies. Although the barium aspiration occurs frequently during videofluoroscopic barium swallowing study (VFSS) that is used in a standard method for diagnosis of dysphagia, there has been no research about the risk of VFSS. METHOD: One hundred VFSS of sixty nine patients were analyzed prospectively. The patients were diagnosed to dysphagia clinically. VFSS findings were classified into 5 groups according to the severity of aspiration. The incidences of complications, such as fever (>38.3oC), leukocytosis (>10,000), dyspnea and abnormality of chest roentgenogram within 24hours after VFSS were determined in each group. Odds ratios of complications after VFSS for severity of their findings were calculated. RESULTS: The complications of VFSS are as follows; five febrile conditions, three leukocytosis and three dyspnea among 100 VFSS cases. Odds ratios for complications were over 1 except for the abnormality of chest roentgenogram, but which was not statistically significant. CONCLUSION: The incidence of complication after VFSS was 5% in dysphagic patients. But the severity of complication was mild and there was no statistical significance between complication and aspiration on VFSS, so VFSS was a relatively safe procedure.
Animals ; Barium ; Deglutition Disorders ; Deglutition* ; Diagnosis ; Dyspnea ; Fever ; Humans ; Incidence ; Leukocytosis ; Odds Ratio ; Prospective Studies ; Thorax