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Periodic breathing and dysphagia associated with a localized lateral medullary infarction
Author(s) -
OKU Yoshitaka,
OKADA Masahiro
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
respirology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.857
H-Index - 85
eISSN - 1440-1843
pISSN - 1323-7799
DOI - 10.1111/j.1440-1843.2008.01267.x
Subject(s) - medicine , dysphagia , medullary cavity , infarction , breathing , cardiology , myocardial infarction , anatomy , surgery
A 77‐year‐old man experienced sudden onset of dysphagia. An MRI revealed a left lateral medullary infarction. Portable polysomnography showed Cheyne‐Stokes‐like breathing with marked desaturation (lowest SaO 2 74%) associated with apnoea. Oxygen administration reduced the apnoea‐hypopnoea index from 30.1 to 20.0 per hour. Sustained periodic breathing under normoxaemia suggested that the brainstem lesion, rather than peripheral factors such as prolonged lung‐chemoreceptor circulatory delay, was responsible for the abnormal breathing. Polysomnography or overnight SaO 2 monitoring should be considered for patients with dysphagia due to a brainstem lesion, to investigate the possible presence of abnormal breathing.