Videofluorographic observations on swallowing in patients with dysphagia due to neurodegenerative diseases.

We examined three intervention methods for their efficacy in preventing aspiration in 25 patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and 23 patients with degenerative cerebellar ataxia (CA). On videofluoroscopic examination. 13 patients with PD (52%) and 7 patients with CA (30.4%) showed aspiration. In all PD patients and 5 patients with CA, no aspiration was observed after changing the food form. With the chin down posture and supraglottic swallow techniques, no aspiration was observed in only 1 PD patient. Among 7 patients with CA, the chin down posture and supraglottic swallow techniques resulted in the disappearance of aspiration in 4 patients. This indicates that changing the food form (ex. jelly) was effective in preventing aspiration in both PD and CA patients with a history of aspiration. In addition, the chin down posture and supraglottic swallow techniques were effective in preventing aspiration in CA patients with good sitting-position balance and cervical control.