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Prediction of aspiration in myasthenia gravis
Author(s) -
Koopman Wilma J.,
Wiebe Samuel,
ColtonHudson Angela,
Moosa Tas,
Smith Dean,
Bach David,
Nicolle Michael W.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
muscle and nerve
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.025
H-Index - 145
eISSN - 1097-4598
pISSN - 0148-639X
DOI - 10.1002/mus.10538
Subject(s) - myasthenia gravis , dysphagia , medicine , neurology , physical therapy , surgery , psychiatry
Prediction of the risk of dysphagia and aspiration is important in the management of myasthenia gravis (MG). We assessed the ability of four bedside clinical tools to predict aspiration in 20 MG patients. Patients completed a self‐directed questionnaire, underwent clinical neurological assessment and a bedside speech pathology assessment, and were assessed with the quantitative myasthenia gravis (QMG) score. The ability of these tools to predict aspiration was compared with the results of a modified barium swallow. Seven patients aspirated, 4 silently. The total self‐directed questionnaire score, two specific questions on the self‐directed questionnaire, the prediction based on clinical neurological assessment, and the QMG bulbar subset score all correlated with aspiration. The speech pathology prediction was highly sensitive but less specific. This pilot study shows that simple clinical tools can predict which MG patients are at risk of aspiration. Muscle Nerve 29: 256–260, 2004