Wang-Sheng Lin1, Chen-Liang Chou2, Miao-Hsiang Chang1, Yuh-Mei Chung1, Fu-Gong Lin3, Po-Yi Tsai4. 1. Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan. 2. Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan; National Yang-Ming University, School of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan. 3. School of Public Health, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan. 4. Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan; National Yang-Ming University, School of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan. Electronic address: pytsai@vghtpe.gov.tw.
Abstract
BACKGROUND & AIMS:Stroke involving the brainstem (SBS) causes severe oropharyngeal dysphagia (OD). Research on the therapeutic efficacy of vagus nerve modulation (VNM) by using repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) in SBS patients with OD has been limited thus far. We aimed to assess the effect of VNM by using rTMS in improving swallowing function after SBS. METHOD: We conducted a sham-controlled, double-blinded, parallel pilot study in 28 SBS patients with OD randomly allocated to areal rTMS group (n = 13; TMSreal) or a sham group (n = 15; TMSsham). For VNM, 5-Hz rTMS was applied to the left mastoid in 10 sessions. We evaluated all patients for swallowing function before and after rTMS conditioning, assessed on the 8-point Penetration-Aspiration Scale (PAS) through videofluoroscopy and the Australian Therapy Outcome Measures-Swallowing scale (AusTOMs). We measured the amplitude and latency of cricopharyngeal motor evoked potentials (CP-MEPs) as the neurophysiological parameters. RESULTS: TMSreal exhibited significant improvement in all swallowing outcomes-neurophysiological, radiological, and functional-compared with TMSsham: We noted higher CP-MEP amplitude (p = 0.004), shorter CP-MEP latency (p = 0.004), a lower PAS score (p = 0.001), and a higher AusTOMs score (p < 0.001) following rTMS in TMSreal. Moreover, the neurophysiological improvements were significantly correlated with the functional outcomes (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Our results encourage the application of VNM by using rTMS for improving swallowing function after SBS. The immediate therapeutic effects suggest that this novel intervention can be an effective complementary therapy to traditional oropharyngeal rehabilitation. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT02893033.
RCT Entities:
BACKGROUND & AIMS:Stroke involving the brainstem (SBS) causes severe oropharyngeal dysphagia (OD). Research on the therapeutic efficacy of vagus nerve modulation (VNM) by using repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) in SBSpatients with OD has been limited thus far. We aimed to assess the effect of VNM by using rTMS in improving swallowing function after SBS. METHOD: We conducted a sham-controlled, double-blinded, parallel pilot study in 28 SBSpatients with OD randomly allocated to a real rTMS group (n = 13; TMSreal) or a sham group (n = 15; TMSsham). For VNM, 5-Hz rTMS was applied to the left mastoid in 10 sessions. We evaluated all patients for swallowing function before and after rTMS conditioning, assessed on the 8-point Penetration-Aspiration Scale (PAS) through videofluoroscopy and the Australian Therapy Outcome Measures-Swallowing scale (AusTOMs). We measured the amplitude and latency of cricopharyngeal motor evoked potentials (CP-MEPs) as the neurophysiological parameters. RESULTS: TMSreal exhibited significant improvement in all swallowing outcomes-neurophysiological, radiological, and functional-compared with TMSsham: We noted higher CP-MEP amplitude (p = 0.004), shorter CP-MEP latency (p = 0.004), a lower PAS score (p = 0.001), and a higher AusTOMs score (p < 0.001) following rTMS in TMSreal. Moreover, the neurophysiological improvements were significantly correlated with the functional outcomes (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Our results encourage the application of VNM by using rTMS for improving swallowing function after SBS. The immediate therapeutic effects suggest that this novel intervention can be an effective complementary therapy to traditional oropharyngeal rehabilitation. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT02893033.
Authors: Markus Wirth; Daniel Unterhuber; Franziska von Meyer; Benedikt Hofauer; Armin Ott; Guenther Edenharter; Danny J Eckert; Clemens Heiser Journal: J Clin Sleep Med Date: 2020-01-13 Impact factor: 4.062