Clinical and scintigraphic swallowing evaluation of post-stroke patients

TEMA: a deglutição em pacientes pós Acidente Vascular Encefálico (AVE). OBJETIVO: estudar a deglutição de pacientes pós-AVE através de avaliação clínica fonoaudiológica e do método cintilográfico. MÉTODO: estudou-se 26 pacientes, sendo o primeiro AVE ocorrido há no máximo dois meses; o grupo controle continha 15 voluntários saudáveis; ambos grupos foram submetidos a avaliação clínica e cintilográfica da deglutição, ingerindo 5ml de líquido e 5ml de pastoso. A avaliação clínica constou de anamnese, avaliação estrutural (sem alimento) e funcional (com alimento). RESULTADOS: durante avaliação fonoaudiológica, o grupo controle apresentou elevação laríngea ineficiente e sinais clínicos de aspiração em um indivíduo. Quanto aos pacientes, 27% apresentaram, na fase oral, um preparo ineficiente do líquido e 42% do pastoso. Na fase faríngea, 12% apresentaram tosse e engasgo. Na avaliação cintilográfica, três pacientes foram excluídos da análise, pois dois deles não deglutiram durante o tempo de aquisição do exame e um engoliu antes da instrução da pesquisadora. Os pacientes apresentaram maior quantidade de resíduo oral e menor duração de trânsito faríngeo na deglutição de pastoso, comparado ao grupo controle. CONCLUSÃO: a complementaridade da avaliação clínica e instrumental no estudo da deglutição de pacientes com AVE é necessária e importante para o desempenho do trabalho fonoaudiológico e para o paciente que será reabilitado. O método cintilográfico deve ser mais utilizado como instrumento de pesquisa para quantificar o tempo de trânsito, o resíduo e o tempo de depuração em cada fase da deglutição, estabelecendo-se parâmetros para outros estudos.BACKGROUND: deglutition of post-stroke patients. AIM: to study the swallowing of post-stroke patients through clinical and scintigraphic evaluations. METHOD: participants were 26 patients, who had suffered their first stroke within the last two months. The control group was composed by 15 healthy volunteers. Both groups were submitted to a clinical and scintigraphic evaluation of swallowing; using 5ml of liquid (water) and 5ml of paste bolus. Clinical evaluation was composed by an interview, an assessment of the oral structures (without food) and by a functional assessment (with food). RESULTS: during the clinical evaluation, one individual of the control group presented inefficient larynx elevation and clinical signs of aspiration. As for the group of post-stroke patients, 27% presented inefficient prepare of the liquid bolus and 42% presented inefficient prepare of the paste bolus, in the oral phase. Considering the pharyngeal phase, 12% presented cough and choked. In the scintigraphy evaluation, three post-stroke patients were excluded from this analysis for the following reasons: two did not swallow during the exam acquisition time and one swallowed before the instruction given by the researcher. The group of post-stroke patients presented more oral residues and shorter pharyngeal transit with the paste bolus when compared to the control group. CONCLUSION:clinical and objective swallowing evaluations of post-stroke patients are necessary and important to determine therapy intervention and possible outcomes. Patients who have suffered stroke have more residues and shorter pharyngeal transit than healthy individuals. The scintigraphic method should be used more often as a research instrument to quantify the residue, transit time and clearance in each of the swallowing phases

Frequency and predictors of symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage after intravenous thrombolysis for acute ischemic stroke in a Brazilian public hospital

OBJECTIVE: Scarce data are available on the occurrence of symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage related to intravenous thrombolysis for acute stroke in South America. We aimed to address the frequency and clinical predictors of symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage after stroke thrombolysis at our tertiary emergency unit in Brazil. METHOD: We reviewed the clinical and radiological data of 117 consecutive acute ischemic stroke patients treated with intravenous thrombolysis in our hospital between May 2001 and April 2010. We compared our results with those of the Safe Implementation of Thrombolysis in Stroke registry. Univariate and multiple regression analyses were performed to identify factors associated with symptomatic intracranial transformation. RESULTS: In total, 113 cases from the initial sample were analyzed. The median National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score was 16 (interquartile range: 10-20). The median onset-to-treatment time was 188 minutes (interquartile range: 155-227). There were seven symptomatic intracranial hemorrhages (6.2%; Safe Implementation of Thrombolysis in Stroke registry: 4.9%; p = 0.505). In the univariate analysis, current statin treatment and elevated National Institute of Health Stroke Scale scores were related to symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage. After the multivariate analysis, current statin treatment was the only factor independently associated with symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage. CONCLUSIONS: In this series of Brazilian patients with severe strokes treated with intravenous thrombolysis in a public university hospital at a late treatment window, we found no increase in the rate of symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage. Additional studies are necessary to clarify the possible association between statins and the risk of symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage after stroke thrombolysis

Frequency and predictors of symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage after intravenous thrombolysis for acute ischemic stroke in a Brazilian public hospital

OBJECTIVE: Scarce data are available on the occurrence of symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage related to intravenous thrombolysis for acute stroke in South America. We aimed to address the frequency and clinical predictors of symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage after stroke thrombolysis at our tertiary emergency unit in Brazil. METHOD: We reviewed the clinical and radiological data of 117 consecutive acute ischemic stroke patients treated with intravenous thrombolysis in our hospital between May 2001 and April 2010. We compared our results with those of the Safe Implementation of Thrombolysis in Stroke registry. Univariate and multiple regression analyses were performed to identify factors associated with symptomatic intracranial transformation. RESULTS: In total, 113 cases from the initial sample were analyzed. The median National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score was 16 (interquartile range: 10-20). The median onset-to-treatment time was 188 minutes (interquartile range: 155-227). There were seven symptomatic intracranial hemorrhages (6.2%; Safe Implementation of Thrombolysis in Stroke registry: 4.9%; p = 0.505). In the univariate analysis, current statin treatment and elevated National Institute of Health Stroke Scale scores were related to symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage. After the multivariate analysis, current statin treatment was the only factor independently associated with symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage. CONCLUSIONS: In this series of Brazilian patients with severe strokes treated with intravenous thrombolysis in a public university hospital at a late treatment window, we found no increase in the rate of symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage. Additional studies are necessary to clarify the possible association between statins and the risk of symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage after stroke thrombolysis