title: Upper esophageal sphincter opening during swallow in stroke survivors.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Timely and efficient upper esophageal sphincter (UES) opening may be critical to safe transport of food or liquid to the stomach and to prevent aspiration during the swallow. The purpose of this study was to examine the temporal and biomechanical characteristics of the UES opening in stroke survivors.
  
  
  METHODS
  Maximum duration and width of the UES opening were obtained from 15 stroke survivors with aspiration and 15 stroke survivors with no aspiration. The control group was composed of 15 normal subjects undergoing videofluoroscopic swallowing examinations. The videofluoroscopic swallowing examination protocol was as follows: two swallows of 5 ml thin liquid and two swallows of 10 ml thin liquid. Statistical comparisons were made by repeated measurements of analysis of variance, and the significance level was set at P < 0.025.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The stroke survivors with aspiration, the stroke survivors without aspiration, and the control group differed significantly for duration of UES opening (P < 0.01) but not maximum width of UES opening.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Prolonged UES opening may be related to prolonged pharyngeal transition of the bolus and slower UES muscle contraction and hyolaryngeal excursion after stroke.
authors.affiliation: From the Communication Sciences and Disorders, Ohio University, Athens (YK, TP); Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology, Calvin College, Grand Rapids, Michigan (EO); and College of Health Sciences, Appalachian State University, Boone, North Carolina (GM).
authors.forename: Youngsun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Taeok
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Oommen
authors.forename: Gary
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: McCullough
mesh_terms: D003679:Deglutition / Q000502:physiology; D003680:Deglutition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D015154:Esophageal Motility Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000534:rehabilitation; D049631:Esophageal Sphincter, Upper / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D005471:Fluoroscopy / Q000379:methods; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009119:Muscle Contraction / Q000502:physiology*; D011015:Pneumonia, Aspiration / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D012016:Reference Values; D018570:Risk Assessment; D020521:Stroke / Q000150:complications*; D000071939:Stroke Rehabilitation; D017741:Survivors; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014741:Video Recording