To determine the relationships between ischemic lesion locations and the character of swallowing disorders, as well as the frequency and severity of aspiration in post-stroke dysphagia patients.
Approach:
Assessment Methods: Patients underwent brain MRI to confirm stroke diagnosis and VFSS with MBSImP assessment to evaluate oral and pharyngeal impairments, including calculating oral impairment (OI) and pharyngeal impairment (PI) variables.
Key Findings:
Oral phase impairment differed significantly by lesion location, with greater impairment in supratentorial lesions (p < 0.001).
Pharyngeal phase impairment showed no statistically significant differences by lesion location (p = 0.057).
No correlation was found between lesion location and the frequency or severity of aspiration.
Interpretation:
The location of ischemic stroke lesions in the corticobulbar tract can indicate the character of the swallowing disorder, particularly affecting the oral phase in supratentorial lesions.
Limitations:
Study is limited to a single center and a small sample size of 27 patients, which may introduce bias.
Results may not be generalizable to all stroke patients with dysphagia.
Conclusion:
Including VFSS in the diagnostic algorithm for dysphagic patients with mild or moderate stroke may be beneficial, but further research is needed to confirm this.
