Swallowing function in the eldaly

Research Project

Project/Area Number	06671720
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for General Scientific Research (C)
Allocation Type	Single-year Grants
Research Field	Otorhinolaryngology
Research Institution	Ehime University
Principal Investigator	MORI Toshihiro Ehime University, School of Medicine, Research Associate, 医学部, 助手 (50200374)
Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha)	SATO Hidemitsu Ehime University, School of Medicine, Research Associate, 医学部, 助手 (30187223) 兵頭政光愛媛大学, 医学部附属病院, 助手 (00181123)
Project Period (FY)	1994 – 1995
Project Status	Completed (Fiscal Year 1995)
Budget Amount *help	¥2,100,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,100,000) Fiscal Year 1995: ¥400,000 (Direct Cost: ¥400,000) Fiscal Year 1994: ¥1,700,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,700,000)
Keywords	Aspiration / Elderly / Swallowing pressure / Esophageal fluorography / 嚥下反射
Research Abstract	We have got the following results through the investigations of a revised manometry and a revised pharyngo-esophageal fluorography applied to the patients with dysphagia or abnormal sensations in the throat who are 65 years old or older. We divided the 12 patients who underwent the manometry into two groups ; 6 patients with neuromuscular disease and 6 without disease. But there seems no difference between two groups as to both the patterns of conduction curves of swallowing pressure and also the conduction velocity of the swallowing pressure. And we also divided the 54 patients who underwent the pharyngo-esophageal fluorograpgy into 3 groups ; group 1 of 18 patients with neuromuscular disease, group 2 of 20 patients without any dysphagic disease, and group 3 of 16 patients with dysphagia of miscellaneous causes. The percentages of positive fluoroscopic findings of premature flow into the pharynx and the larynx are 15 cases (81%), 8 cases (40%), and 8 cases (50%) respectively. We could not find any common pathological movements of anatomical components involved in swallowing in the series of fluoroscopic examination of group 2 of 20 patients without any dysphagic disease. In this study, several points mentioned above were investigated in order to clarify the disorder of swallowing reflex initiation which are thought to be the main cause of dysphagia in the elderly. We got the facts that the incidence of delayd swallowing reflex initiation goes up in elder generations but failed to get the precise cause of that phenomena.