title: Swallowing disturbances in the corticobasal syndrome.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the characteristics of swallowing and speech disturbances in patients with corticobasal syndrome (CBS) compared to healthy controls, and whether a subjective swallowing questionnaire, the NIH-Speech Pathology swallowing questionnaire (NIH-SQ), can predict swallowing impairment.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-four consecutive CBS patients underwent a swallowing assessment comprised of the NIH-SQ, ultrasound swallow study (US) and modified barium swallow (MBS) study. Healthy controls (n = 28) completed the NIH-SQ and the US.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Ninety-six percent of the patients with CBS reported at least one complaint in the NIH-SQ, 59% had abnormal dry swallow duration and 10% abnormal wet swallow duration. Twenty-three patients with CBS had some abnormality on the MBS. The MBS category "piecemeal deglutition" (excessive lingual gestures causing multiple swallows required to clear a single bolus) was characteristic of CBS patients. No aspiration was detected. No NIH-SQ cutoff score or combination of subjective complaints predicted an abnormal MBS. Fifty-two percent of the patients had speech apraxia.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Swallowing and speech disturbances are common in patients with CBS and differ from those previously reported in patients with PSP syndrome. Piecemeal deglutition and speech apraxia are characteristic features of our CBS patients. Although the NIH-SQ cannot predict the results of the more objective MBS in this population, it characterizes the patients' major subjective swallowing complaints.
authors.affiliation: Movement Disorder Center, Department of Neurosciences, University of California San Diego, California, USA.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Grunho
authors.affiliation: Formerly Department of Department of Rehabilitation Medicine Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sonies
authors.affiliation: Formerly Department of Department of Rehabilitation Medicine Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
authors.forename: C M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Frattali
authors.affiliation: Movement Disorder Center, Department of Neurosciences, University of California San Diego, California, USA. Electronic address: ilitvan@ucsd.edu.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Litvan
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001480:Basal Ganglia Diseases / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003680:Deglutition Disorders / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013064:Speech Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013577:Syndrome; D014463:Ultrasonography
keywords: Atypical parkinsonism; Corticobasal syndrome; Dysphagia; Swallowing