title: Outcome of percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy insertion in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in relation to respiratory dysfunction.
abstract: Our objective was to describe a group of ALS patients who underwent percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) insertion, with emphasis on the respiratory function, by comparing patients with forced vital capacity (FVC) > 30% versus FVC ≤ 30%, and the effect of respiratory dysfunction on the perioperative complication rate and survival. Thirty consecutive ALS patients in whom FVC status was known underwent PEG insertion at our centre. Twenty of them had FVC > 30% (50.1% ± 20) at the time of the procedure, and 10 had FVC ≤ 30% (20.1% ± 7). Demographic and clinical data were reviewed in each patient. Results showed that all patients had successful PEG insertion without any complications. There was no statistically significant difference between the two FVC groups regarding survival after the date of PEG insertion. In conclusion, in this relatively small patient sample there was no difference in complication rate and survival after PEG insertion between patients with poor respiratory function (FVC ≤ 30%) at the time of the procedure and patients with better respiratory function (FVC > 30%). Therefore, according to our data, PEG insertion may be regarded as safe even in patients with low FVC and should be offered even to patients with respiratory dysfunction.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and ALS Clinic and Department of Clinical Nutrition, Tel-Aviv Medical Centre, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University , Tel-Aviv , Israel.
authors.forename: Michal
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sarfaty
authors.forename: Beatrice
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Nefussy
authors.forename: Ditza
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gross
authors.forename: Yami
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shapira
authors.forename: Nachum
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Vaisman
authors.forename: Vivian E
authors.initials: VE
authors.lastname: Drory
mesh_terms: D000690:Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D005773:Gastroscopy / Q000639:trends*; D005774:Gastrostomy / Q000639:trends*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012120:Respiration Disorders / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015996:Survival Rate / Q000639:trends; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014797:Vital Capacity / Q000502:physiology*