PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine the significant factors for risk estimate of aspiration and to evaluate the efficiency of the dysphagia assessment tool. METHODS: A consecutive series of 210 stroke patients with aspiration symptoms such as cough and dysphagia who had soft or regular diet without tube feeding were examined. The dysphagia assessment tool for aspiration was compared with videofluoroscopy using Classification and Regression Tree (CART) analysis. RESULTS: In CART analysis, of 34 factors, the significant factors for estimating risk of aspiration were cough during swallowing, oral stasis, facial symmetry, salivary drooling, and cough after swallowing. The risk estimate error of the revised dysphagia assessment tool was 25.2%, equal to that of videofluoroscopy. CONCLUSION: The results indicate that the dysphagia assessment tool developed and examined in this study was potentially useful in the clinical field and the primary risk estimating factor was cough during swallowing. Oral stasis, facial symmetry, salivary drooling, cough after swallowing were other significant factors, and based on these results, the dysphagia assessment tool for aspiration was revised and complemented.
Adult ; Aged ; Cough ; Deglutition ; Deglutition Disorders/complications/*diagnosis ; Facial Asymmetry ; Female ; Fluoroscopy/methods ; Humans ; Inhalation ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Risk Assessment ; Stroke/*complications/radiography/therapy

We report a case of thymic hyperplasia accompanied by pericardial lipomatosis and right facial hemihypertrophy in an 8-year-old boy. On imaging studies, the hyperplastic thymus had prominent curvilinear and nodular fatty areas simulating a fat-containing anterior mediastinal mass, which is an unusual finding in children. To our knowledge, this is the first report on a child with a combination of thymic hyperplasia, pericardial lipomatosis, and right facial hemihypertrophy. The radiologic findings are presented with a brief discussion.
Child ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Facial Asymmetry/complications/*diagnosis ; Heart Diseases/complications/*diagnosis/surgery ; Humans ; Hypertrophy/pathology ; Lipomatosis/complications/*diagnosis/surgery ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Pericardium/*pathology ; Thymus Hyperplasia/complications/*diagnosis/surgery ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed