Desempenho de idosos brasileiros no teste de deglutição de 100 ml de água Performance of Brazilian elderly on the 100 ml water swallowing test

OBJETIVO: Comparar o desempenho de idosos brasileiros, residentes em uma instituição de longa permanência, no teste de deglutição de 100 ml de água com os resultados obtidos em idosos ingleses. MÉTODOS: Dezoito idosos residentes numa instituição de longa permanência, considerados normais para a função de deglutição (13 mulheres e cinco homens, com idade média de 83,46 anos) foram solicitados a beber 100 ml de água de um copo plástico, reproduzindo o estudo inglês. O avaliador observou lateralmente o número de goles, tempo gasto e intercorrências, gerando três índices: volume por deglutição (ml), tempo por deglutição (s) e capacidade de deglutição (ml/s). RESULTADOS: A capacidade de deglutição para homens foi menor do que a das mulheres, divergindo do estudo original. O tempo médio de cada deglutição e o volume médio por deglutição foi semelhante para ambos os gêneros. CONCLUSÃO: A capacidade de deglutição em idosos é inferior à de adultos normais, indicando lentificação da deglutição. A diferença entre gêneros encontrada no estudo original não foi reproduzida, entretanto nossa amostra foi mais idosa.<br>PURPOSE: To compare the performance of Brazilian elderly patients living in a long-term care facility on the 100 ml water swallowing test with the results obtained with British elderly. METHODS: Eighteen elderly subjects (13 women and five men, mean age 83.46), residents in a long-term care facility and considered normal regarding the swallowing function, were selected to take part in this study. As in a British study, they were laterally observed by the examiner while swallowing 100 ml of water from a plastic cup. The examiner observed the number of sips, the time taken, and complications during the test, which generated the following indices: volume per swallow (ml), time per swallow (s), and swallowing capacity (ml/s). RESULTS: The elderly men had lower swallowing capacity than the women in the research, oppositely from the original British study. The mean time per swallow and the mean volume per swallow were similar for both genders. CONCLUSION: The swallowing capacity in elderly subjects is lower than that of normal adults, suggesting slowing in the deglutition process. The difference between genders reported in the original study was not found in the present study; however, our sample was older

Esophageal dysphagia as the sole symptom in type I chiari malformation

Chiari malformations, also called Arnold-Chiari deformities, are rare hindbrain herniations that may present in children or adults. The most common symptoms include headache, syncope, disordered eye movement, sensory loss, weakness, and cerebellar features such as ataxia. Dysphagia occurs in 5–15% of patients, although only a few reports describe dysphagia as the only presenting symptom. We report a case of a 27-year-old woman who presented with a three-year history of dysphagia, chest pain, and weight loss. Esophageal manometrics revealed markedly disordered esophageal motility and gastroesophageal reflux. Her symptoms failed to respond to high doses of omeprazole, prokinetics, and eventually surgical fundoplication. The subsequent onset of neurological symptoms led to the diagnosis of Chiari type I malformation. Following posterior craniotomy with decompression, her dysphagia and chest discomfort completely resolved. Repeat esophageal manometrics revealed complete resolution of prior abnormalities.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/44426/1/10620_2005_Article_BF02282327.pd