Efficacy of Myofunctional Therapy Associated with Voice Therapy in the Rehabilitation of Neurogenic Oropharyngeal Dysphagia: a pilot study

Abstract Introduction Dysphagia causes changes in the laryngeal and stomatognathic structures; however, the use of vocal exercises is poorly described. Objective To verify whether the therapy consisting of myofunctional exercises associated with vocal exercises is more effective in rehabilitating deglutition in stroke patients. Methods This is a pilot study made up of two distinct groups: a control group, which performed onlymyofunctional exercises, and an experimental group, which performed myofunctional and vocal exercises. The assessment used for oral intake was the functional oral intake scale (FOIS). Results The FOIS levels reveal that the pre-therapymedian of the experimental group was 4, and increased to 7 after therapy, while in the control group the values were 5 and 6 respectively. Thus, the experimental group had a statistically significant difference between the pre- and post-therapy assessments (p = 0.039), which indicates that the combination of myofunctional and vocal exercises was more effective in improving the oral intake levels than the myofunctional exercises alone (p = 0.059). On the other hand, the control group also improved, albeit at a lower rate compared with the experimental group; hence, there was no statistically significant difference between the groups post-therapy (p = 0.126). Conclusion This pilot study showed indications that using vocal exercises in swallowing rehabilitation in stroke patients was able to yield a greater increase in the oral intake levels. Nevertheless, further controlled blind clinical trials with larger samples are required to confirm such evidence, as this study points to the feasibility of conducting this type of research.

Dysfunctions of the stomatognathic system and vocal aspects in Fahr disease: case report / Disfunções do sistema estomatognático e aspectos vocais na doença de Fahr: relato de caso

The aim of this study is to report the case of a patient with Fahr's Disease in order to describe the main stomatognathic and vocal changes that can be found in individuals with this disease. In order to establish the diagnosis, an assessment of the conditions of orofacial motor system and speech production, as well the efficiency of swallowing, was realized. Based on these assessments, there were difficulties in coordinating and sustaining muscle during speech and presence of oropharyngeal dysphagia. Speech disorders found in Fahr's disease manifest themselves in complex and cover various aspects of phonological knowledge and the diseases that affect the basal ganglia have similar frames of speech-language disorders of the stomatognathic system, being able to present a picture of dysarthria.

O objetivo deste estudo consiste em relatar o caso de uma paciente com Doença de Fahr buscando descrever as principais alterações estomatognáticas e vocais que podem ser encontradas em indivíduos com essa doença. A fim de estabelecer o diagnóstico fonoaudiológico, foi realizada avaliação das condições motoras orofaciais e produção da fala, além de eficiência da deglutição. Com base nessas avaliações, observaram-se dificuldades na coordenação e na sustentação muscular durante a fala e presença de disfagia orofaríngea. Os achados fonoaudiológicos na Doença de Fahr manifestam-se de forma complexa, incluindo disfagias e disartria e as doenças que acometem os núcleos da base apresentam quadros semelhantes de alterações fonoaudiológicas do sistema estomatognático, podendo apresentar quadro de disartria.