La déglutition chez les individus avec altération de l'état de conscience : une étude comportementale

peer reviewedIntroduction: After a period of coma, a proportion of patients with severe brain injury remain in an altered state of consciousness before regaining partial or complete recovery. Patients with disorders of consciousness (DOC) classically receive hydration and nutrition through an enteral feeding tube. However, the real impact of the level of consciousness on a patient’s swallowing ability remains poorly investigated. Objective: The aims of this study were to document the incidence and characteristics of dysphagia in patients DOC and to evaluate the link between different components of swallowing and the level of consciousness. Method: We retrospectively analyzed clinical data on the respiratory status, oral feeding and otolaryngologic examination of swallowing of DOC patients admitted for a one-week multimodal assessment of consciousness. Results: A total of 92 DOC patients were included, 26 patients with unresponsive wakefulness syndrome (UWS) and 66 in minimally conscious state (MCS). Deficits in the oral and/or pharyngeal phase of swallowing were present in 99% of the patients. Compared to MCS patients, UWS patients were more frequently tracheotomized (69% UWS vs 24% MCS) with diminished cough reflex (27% UWS vs 54% MCS) and no effective oral phase (0% UWS vs 21% MCS). Conclusion: almost all patients with DOC presented at least one swallowing disorder, which represents the most important proportion of dysphagia in neurological population. Some components of swallowing (i.e., tracheostomy, cough reflex and efficacy of the oral phase of swallowing) correlate with the level of consciousness. In particular, the efficacy of the oral phase was not observed in any of the UWS patients, suggesting that its presence may be a sign of consciousness, and consequently, it should be taken into account in DOC diagnosis. Our study also confirms that objective swallowing assessment can be completed in DOC patients, and that specific care is needed to treat severe dysphagia in DOC patients

Links between the level of consciousness and swallowing: what can we learn from patients in altered states of consciousness?

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Chromosome instability is common in human cleavage stage embryos

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La déglutition chez les individus avec altération de l'état de conscience : une étude de cohorte

Background. After a period of coma, a proportion of individuals with severe brain injury remain in an altered state of consciousness before regaining partial or complete recovery. Individuals with disorders of consciousness (DOC) classically receive hydration and nutrition through an enteral feeding tube. However, the real impact of the level of consciousness on an individual’s swallowing ability remains poorly investigated. Objective. We aimed to document the incidence and characteristics of dysphagia in DOC individuals and to evaluate the link between different components of swallowing and the level of consciousness. Methods. We analyzed clinical data on the respiratory status, oral feeding and otolaryngologic examination of swallowing in DOC individuals. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression was used to analyse the association of components of swallowing and participant groups (i.e., unresponsive wakefulness syndrome [UWS] and minimally conscious state [MCS]). Results. We included 92 individuals with DOC (26 UWS and 66 MCS). Overall, 99% of the participants showed deficits in the oral and/or pharyngeal phase of swallowing. As compared with the MCS group, the UWS group more frequently had a tracheostomy (69% vs 24%), with diminished cough reflex (27% vs 54%) and no effective oral phase (0% vs 21%). Conclusion. Almost all DOC participants had severe dysphagia. Some components of swallowing (i.e., tracheostomy, cough reflex and efficacy of the oral phase of swallowing) were related to consciousness. In particular, no UWS participant had an efficient oral phase, which suggests that its presence may be a sign of consciousness. In addition, no UWS participant could be fed entirely orally, whereas no MCS participant orally received ordinary food. Our study also confirms that objective swallowing assessment can be successfully completed in DOC individuals and that specific care is needed to treat severe dysphagia in DOC

The Development and Validation of the SWADOC: A Study Protocol for a Multicenter Prospective Cohort Study

Background: After a coma, patients with severe brain injury may present disorders of consciousness (DOC). A substantial proportion of these patients also suffer from severe dysphagia. Assessment of and therapy for swallowing disabilities of patients with DOC are essential because dysphagia has major functional consequences and comorbidities. Dysphagia evaluation in patients with DOC is impeded by the lack of adapted tools. The first aim of this study was to create a new tool, the SWallowing Assessment in Disorders Of Consciousness (SWADOC), and propose a validation protocol. The SWADOC was developed to help therapists assess factors related to swallowing in patients with DOC. The second aim was to investigate the relationship between patients' level of consciousness and SWADOC items and scores. Method/Design: In this multicenter prospective cohort, 104 patients with DOC will be tested three times over five consecutive days with the SWADOC. Statistical analyses will focus on the reliability and validity of the SWADOC, especially the intrarater and interrater reliability, internal consistency, measures of dispersion, and concurrent validity with the Facial Oral Tract Therapy Swallowing Assessment of Saliva (FOTT-SAS). The level of consciousness will be assessed with the Simplified Evaluation of CONsciousness Disorders (SECONDs) and the Coma Recovery Scale-Revised (CRS-R). Discussion: The assessment of swallowing abilities among patients with DOC is the first necessary step toward the development of a customized dysphagia care plan. A validated scoring tool will be essential for clinicians to better assess dysphagia in patients with DOC and document the evolution of their disorders

Une alimentation orale est-elle compatible avec le diagnostic de syndrome d'éveil-non-répondant ?

INTRODUCTION AND AIMS Vegetative state/Unresponsive wakefulness syndrome (VS/UWS) is defined by the presence of eye-opening and the absence of awareness and voluntary movement (Laureys et al., 2010). VS/UWS patients classically receive hydration and nutrition through an enteral feeding tube. We present the cases of two patients that were diagnosed as VS/UWS but were able to resume oral feeding. It is however unclear if the presence of oral feeding is compatible with the diagnosis of VS/UWS or if this observation should lead to a modification of the diagnosis. METHODS AND RESULTS We retrospectively reviewed the clinical information of 65 VS/UWS patients (aged 45±12; range 16-85 years) evaluated at the CHU hospital of Liege searching for mention of oral feeding. VS/UWS diagnosis was made after repeated behavioral assessments using the standardized Coma Recovery Scale–Revised (CRS-R, (Teasdale & Jennet, 1974)) in association with complementary evaluations using neuroimaging techniques. Of the 65 VS/UWS patients, two could resume oral feeding (3%). One could achieve full oral feeding (mixed texture and liquid) and the other had oral feeding (liquid and semi-liquid) in addition to gastrostomy feeding. Neuroimaging evaluations showed in both patients a massive decrease in the spontaneous brain activity and its functional connectivity (using functional magnetic resonance imaging), bilateral cerebral cortex hypometabolism (fronto- parietal associative areas, posterior parietal areas, cingulate cortices, precuneus) and preserved metabolism in the brainstem and cerebellum (using positron emission tomography). CONCLUSIONS Oral feeding is rare in VS/UWS patients (3% in our cohort). Based on neuroimaging results, this behaviour does not seem to be incompatible with the diagnosis of VS/UWS but the neuromecanistic root, which allows this behavior, still needs to be elucidate. This study also emphasizes the importance of systematic swallowing evaluation in patients with altered state of consciousness regardless of their level of consciousness. Moreover, tactile oro-facial stimulation, manual therapy, taste stimulation and therapeutic feeding can be another “gateway” to interact with these patients and improve their quality of life

Breakage-Fusion-Bridge Cycles Leading to inv dup del Occur in Human Cleavage Stage Embryos

Recently, a high incidence of chromosome instability (CIN) was reported in human cleavage stage embryos. Based on the copy number changes that were observed in the blastomeres it was hypothesized that chromosome breakages and fusions occur frequently in cleavage stage human embryos and instigate subsequent breakage-fusion-bridge cycles. In addition, it was hypothesized that the DNA breaks present in spermatozoa could trigger this CIN. To test these hypotheses, we genotyped both parents as well as 93 blastomeres from 24 IVF embryos and developed a novel single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array-based algorithm to determine the parental origin of (aberrant) loci in single cells. Paternal as well as maternal alleles were commonly rearranged in the blastomeres indicating that sperm-specific DNA breaks do not explain the majority of these structural variants. The parent-of-origin analyses together with microarray-guided FISH analyses demonstrate the presence of inv dup del chromosomes as well as more complex rearrangements. These data provide unequivocal evidence for breakage-fusion-bridge cycles in those embryos and suggest that the human cleavage stage embryo is a major source of chromosomal disorders.status: publishe