title: Evaluation of swallowing in infants with congenital heart defect.
abstract: Introduction Surgical repair of congenital heart disease in the first years of life compromises the coordination of the suction, breathing, and swallowing functions. Objective To describe the alterations in swallowing found in infants with congenital heart defect during their hospitalization. Methods Prospective, cross-sectional study in a reference hospital for heart disease. The sample consisted of 19 postsurgical patients who underwent an evaluation of swallowing. The infants included were younger than 7 months and had a diagnosis of congenital heart defect and suspected swallowing difficulties. Results Of the 19 infants with congenital heart defect, the median age was 3.2 months. A significant association was found between suction rhythm and dysphagia (p = 0.036) and between oral-motor oral feeding readiness and dysphagia (p = 0.014). Conclusions The data suggest that dysphagia often occurs after surgery in infants with congenital heart defect. Infants with congenital heart defect had very similar behavior to preterm infants in terms of oral feeding readiness.
authors.affiliation: Department of Speech Pathology, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
authors.forename: Karine da Rosa
authors.initials: Kda R
authors.lastname: Pereira
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatric Cardiology, Instituto de Cardiologia do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
authors.forename: Cora
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Firpo
authors.affiliation: Department of Speech Pathology, Instituto de Cardiologia do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
authors.forename: Marisa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gasparin
authors.affiliation: Department of Speech Pathology, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
authors.forename: Adriane Ribeiro
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Teixeira
authors.affiliation: Department of Speech Pathology, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dornelles
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatric Cardiology, Instituto de Cardiologia do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
authors.forename: Tzvi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bacaltchuk
authors.affiliation: Department of Speech Pathology, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
authors.forename: Deborah Salle
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Levy
keywords: congenital heart; defects; deglutition disorders; infant; language and hearing sciences; respiratory aspiration; speech