title: The incidence of dysphagia in patients receiving cerebral reperfusion therapy poststroke.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The high prevalence of dysphagia after stroke leads to increased mortality, and cerebral reperfusion therapy has been effective in reducing neurologic deficits. The aim of this study was to investigate the severity and evolution of dysphagia and the occurrence of pneumonia in patients submitted to cerebral reperfusion therapy.
  
  
  METHODS
  Seventy ischemic stroke patients were evaluated. Of these, 35 patients (group 1) were submitted to cerebral reperfusion therapy and 35 (group 2) did not receive thrombolytic treatment. The following were evaluated: severity of dysphagia by means of videofluoroscopy, evolution of oral intake rate by means of the Functional Oral Intake Scale, and the occurrence of pneumonia by international protocol. The relation between the severity of dysphagia and the occurrence of pneumonia with the treatment was evaluated through the chi-square test; the daily oral intake rate and its relation to the treatment were assessed by the Mann-Whitney test and considered significant if P is less than .05.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The moderate and severe degrees of dysphagia were more frequent (P=.013) among the patients who were not submitted to cerebral reperfusion therapy. The daily oral intake evolved independently of the treatment type, without statistical significance when compared between the groups, whereas pneumonia occurred more frequently in group 2 (28%) in relation to group 1 (11%) and was associated with the worst degrees of dysphagia (P=.045).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We can conclude that there is improvement in the oral intake rate in both groups, with lower severity of dysphagia and occurrence of pneumonia in ischemic stroke patients submitted to cerebral reperfusion therapy.
authors.affiliation: Neurology Service, Botucatu School of Medicine, University Estadual Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filho, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Priscila W
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Ribeiro
authors.affiliation: Department of Phonoaudiology, School of Pholosophy and Sciences, Marília, Brazil.
authors.forename: Paula C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Cola
authors.affiliation: Department of Phonoaudiology, School of Pholosophy and Sciences, Marília, Brazil.
authors.forename: Ana R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Gatto
authors.affiliation: Department of Phonoaudiology, School of Pholosophy and Sciences, Marília, Brazil.
authors.forename: Roberta G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: da Silva
authors.affiliation: Neurology Service, Botucatu School of Medicine, University Estadual Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filho, São Paulo, Brazil. Electronic address: gluvizutto@fmb.unesp.br.
authors.forename: Gustavo J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Luvizutto
authors.affiliation: Neurology Service, Botucatu School of Medicine, University Estadual Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filho, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Gabriel P
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Braga
authors.affiliation: Neurology Service, Botucatu School of Medicine, University Estadual Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filho, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Arthur O
authors.initials: AO
authors.lastname: Schelp
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Botucatu School of Medicine, University Estadual Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filho, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Maria A C
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: de Arruda Henry
authors.affiliation: Neurology Service, Botucatu School of Medicine, University Estadual Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filho, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Rodrigo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bazan
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002545:Brain Ischemia / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy*; D003680:Deglutition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D011014:Pneumonia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D015424:Reperfusion; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D020521:Stroke / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy*
keywords: Stroke; deglutition; deglutition disorders; dysphagia; thrombolytic therapy