You searched for "dysphagia"

223 results found

In conversation with Dr Peter Belafsky

Dr Peter Belafsky. Peter – tell us about your background I was born in Philadelphia and went on to study at Vassar College which is a small liberal arts school in upstate New York. I then attended Medical School in...

Mondini dysplasia and cochlear implantation

Approximately 20-28% of sensorineural hearing loss in children arises due to a cochlear malformation. Mondini dysplasia includes a cochlear with one and a half turns and an incomplete interscalar septum. Cochlear implantation is a common treatment protocol for children with...

Medialisation laryngoplasty can relieve pain related to voice use

Odynophonia, or pain associated with voice use, is a relatively uncommon manifestation of glottal insufficiency related to vocal fold motion impairment (VFMI). Its incidence is approximately 15% in patients with vocal fold paresis. Medialisation laryngoplasty (ML) was popularised by Isshiki...

What are the airway, voice and swallowing outcomes of a mucosal-sparing surgical approach to improving the glottic airway in bilateral vocal fold immobility?

Bilateral vocal fold immobility (BVFI) causes significant breathing problems as well as voice and swallowing difficulties. Surgical interventions aim to enlarge the glottic outlet by altering or removing glottic structures which improve breathing but often lead to worsening dysphonia and...

Botulinum toxin injection in spasmodic dysphonia

Spasmodic dysphonia is a rare neurological voice disorder, which is often missed by the inexperienced ear. There is no laboratory test or investigation to diagnose this condition therefore, it is best diagnosed by listening to the patient’s voice. Laryngeal endoscopy...

What can we tell about swallow physiology from a bedside clinical assessment?

Knowledge about swallowing physiology has greatly increased with the use of instrumental assessments such as videofluoroscopy (VFS). The authors of this paper performed an analysis of data obtained from 60 stroke patients who were assessed via a clinical swallow examination...

Prophylactic swallowing exercises in head and neck cancer

Clinicians working in head and neck cancer will be familiar with the increased interest in prophylactic swallowing exercises to reduce the devastating impact of dysphagia experienced by patients undergoing radiation or chemo-radiation therapy. This study from Denmark is one of...

Benign oesophageal strictures: overview and management strategies

Benign oesophageal strictures may have several attributable causes including caustic injuries, long-term acid reflux, eosinophilic oesophagitis, anastomotic strictures and endoscopic therapy. Endoscopic dilation via bougies or balloon dilators may treat most strictures successfully and satisfactorily. However, in some situations treatment...

Analysing videofluroscopy: does it matter how it’s done?

Videofluoroscopy, as a tool that assesses the process of swallowing, has transformed our understanding of dysphagia. Clinicians can observe the biomechanics of a bolus moving from the oral cavity through the pharynx and oesophagus and into the stomach. Over the...

Measuring radiation fibrosis in patients with head and neck cancer

People treated with radiotherapy for head and neck cancer experience several acute and chronic effects of this treatment, of which fibrosis is perhaps the most common. Fibrosis occurs as a wound healing response and leads to scarring and reduced range...

13th Winter Days of Laryngology

Dr Samuel Hofmann, ENT/Laryngologist, Lindenhofspital/Praxis Länggasse, Bern, Switzerland and Mr Philippe F de Z Bowles, Consultant ENT Surgeon/Laryngologist, University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust, Brighton, UK. This successful meeting, hosted once again at L’Hôtel de L’Étrier in the Swiss Alps,...

Motor learning: better knowing how, not how well

Motor learning is described as the ability to perform a motor skill due to practice and/or experience. Research on interventions to enhance limb motor skills can be influenced through the amount, distribution, variability and schedule of practice as well as...