Obturator Nerve Injury: An Infrequent Complication of TOT Procedure.

Transvaginal mid-urethral slings have become the most preferred surgical treatment option for female stress urinary incontinence. However, various complications have been reported for these operations occurring especially during penetration of the retropubic space. It can negatively affect patient's quality of life. Early treatment increases the chance of complete normalization of the functions. In this case report we presented a case of obturator nerve damage that was diagnosed and treated at early stage after TOT operation.

An electrophysiological study of the sequential water swallowing.

BACKGROUND: Sequential water swallowing (SWS) was mostly investigated by the videofluoroscopic and endoscopic methods. However some physiological features of SWS was rarely evaluated by neurophysiological techniques. Our aim was to investigate some neural and muscular changes on sequences of SWS using electromyography (EMG) methods. METHODS: Fifty-eight normal adults were investigated. SWS was initiated voluntarily with 50ml and 100ml water volumes from a cup. Submental EMG, respiratory signals, heart rate, and sympathetic skin responses (SSR) were measured during SWS. KEY RESULTS: All parameters were increased significantly during the 100ml SWS. During swallowing apnea period, compensatory respiration cycles occurred in 24% and 48% of participants in the 50ml and 100ml SWS, respectively. Heart rate increased during swallowing apnea. SSR were evoked just before and just after the SWS in more than halves of participants. A foreburst EMG in SM muscles at the initiation of SWS was recorded in 86% of normal participants. Older age was associated with a prolonged duration of the apnea period. CONCLUSIONS: All parameters of the SWS could be recorded numerically and objectively using electrphysiological methods. These are similar to those obtained by videofluoroscopic and similar methods. The foreburst activity of the initiation of SWS may represents preparatory activity from the activation of the fast cortical descending motor pathway. Increasing heart rate and the prolonged apnea urged that older people and patients could be carefully tested for respiratory and cardiac rhythm disorders.

Sympathetic skin responses in adult humans during sequential swallowing.

STUDY AIMS: Autonomic changes, especially those of sympathetic skin responses (SSR), during sequential water swallowing (SWS) have not been systematically investigated. This study aims to electrophysiologically examine these autonomic changes (SSR and heart rate) that occur during 50 ml sequential water swallowing from a cup. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fifty-eight normal healthy adults were included in the study. Their submental muscle activity, respiratory activity, heart rate changes, and sympathetic skin responses were recorded during 50 ml water swallowing. In addition, we requested subjects to imagine drinking water as they did just before. The same recordings were performed during this imagination period. RESULTS: SSR appeared at the beginning and at the end of SWS in 52% of subjects. A first sympathetic skin response was evoked at the onset of SWS, and a second one appeared 8.6±1.7 seconds after the first one and at the end of swallowing. Similar double SSRs were also obtained during imagination in most investigated subjects (33 out of 35 of selected subjects in a total group of 58 subjects). Swallowing tachycardia was observed during the SWS-associated apnea period, but not during the imagination period. Heart rate significantly increased during the SWS-associated apnea period. CONCLUSION: The first SSR that appeared at the onset of swallowing is likely related to arousal. The appearance of a second response is a novel finding, which is probably related to the activity of subtil corticosubcortical networks. While discrete/single swallows can be used to evoke SSRs, SWS is unlikely to be clinically useful in its current form. In contrast, swallowing tachycardia could be a useful tool to examine dysphagic patients.

An EMG screening method (dysphagia limit) for evaluation of neurogenic dysphagia in childhood above 5 years old.

Oropharyngeal dysphagia is not rare in older children before the adult age, especially the patients with cerebral palsy. Non-invasive simple tests are needed for the evaluation of children with neurogenic dysphagia including the patients with cerebral palsy. So we aimed to evaluate non-invasive ways to screen for dysphagia in children and the usefulness of this almost new electrophysiologic method for the detection of dysphagia in children with cerebral palsy. Twenty-eight healthy children and 12 patients with cerebral palsy were investigated for the applicability of this method. The movement of the larynx was monitored using a simple piezoelectric wafer sensor and submental surface EMG activity was recorded by bipolar silver-chloride electrodes taped under the chin over the submental muscle complex. The onset and duration of pharyngeal swallowing was recorded from submental-suprahyoid muscles such as the mylohyoid-genitohyoid-anterior digastric complex. By this method, the maximal water volume capacity was measured in single swallows with progressively increasing water volumes, this was called 'dysphagia limit'. The healthy control children revealed to swallow the bolus at once maximally 11.2+/-0.4 and 2.5 ml in average. Dysphagia limit varied from 7 to above 20 ml water volume from age 5-16 years old. Patients with cerebral palsy had the dysphagia limit of 7.7+/-1.8 and 6.4 ml in average. The dysphagia limit was significantly reduced in patients with cerebral palsy (p<0.05). Dysphagia limit seemed to be less sensitive in demonstrating the oropharyngeal swallowing disorders in childhood period (90% in the adult dysphagic patients). But the majority of patients with cerebral palsy (58%) showed abnormality. This electrophysiologic method is completely non-invasive, devoid from any hazard and applicable to children above 5 years. It may be candidate as a screening test before selection of dysphagic children.

Neurological complications of prolonged hunger strike.

We investigated neurological findings in 41 prisoners (mean age: 28.6) who participated in a hunger strike between 2000 and 2002. All cases were evaluated using neuropsychological, neuroradiological, and electrophysiological methods. The total duration of fasting ranged from 130 to 324 days (mean 199 days). All cases had 200-600 mg/day thiamine orally for 60-294 days (mean 156) during the hunger strike, and had neurological findings consistent with Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome. All 41 patients exhibited altered consciousness which lasted from 3 to 31 days. All patients also presented gaze-evoked horizontal nystagmus and truncal ataxia. Paralysis of lateral rectus muscles was found in 14. Amnesia was apparent in all cases. Abnormal nerve conduction study parameters were not found in the patient group, but the amplitude of compound muscle action potential of the median and fibular nerves and sensory nerve action potential amplitude of the sural nerve were lower than the control group, and distal motor latency of the posterior tibial nerve was significantly prolonged as compared with the control group. The latency of visual evoked potential was prolonged in 22 cases. Somatosensory evoked potential (P37) was prolonged but not statistically significant. Our most significant finding was that the effect of hunger was more prominent on the central nervous system than on the neuromuscular system, despite the fact that all patients were taking thiamine. In our opinion, partial recovery of neurological, and neurocognitive signs in prolonged hunger could be a result of permanent neurological injury.

Pseudotumor cerebri: etiological factors, presenting features and prognosis in the western part of Turkey.

OBJECTIVES: Pseudotumor cerebri (PC) is a clinical condition characterized by signs and symptoms of increased intracranial pressure, such as headache and papilledema. MATERIAL AND METHOD: A total of 62 patients diagnosed with PC, who were on follow-up for a period ranging from 4 to 60 months, were investigated retrograde from 1990 to 1998 and then anterograde from 1998 to 2001 to find out the etiological factors, symptoms and signs and the prognosis in the western part of Turkey. RESULTS: There were 47 (76%) women and 15 (24%) men. The age of onset of symptoms was 32.7 +/- 9.9 (range 18-56) years. Obesity was found in only 17 (30%) of them. There were eight patients (13%) with venous sinus thrombosis causing PC. Five patients (8%) had Behçet's disease. The most common symptom was headache, recorded in 93% of the patients, which was followed by transient visual obscurations (60%). Snellen visual acuity was disturbed in 17 patients (27%) at the initial visit. Visual loss determined by automated perimetry was present in 71% of the cases. Three patients (3%) became blind in both eyes. Of the 62 patients, 41 were on follow-up during the study. Twenty-one (51%) showed regression of the visual field grade, nine patients (22%) worsened and 11 (27%) were stationary. CONCLUSION: Obesity was not as frequent as reported in western countries but Behçet's disease was found to be a frequent cause. Perimetry was the most reliable method to follow-up the patients.

Oropharyngeal swallowing in craniocervical dystonia.

OBJECTIVE: To clarify the pathophysiology of dysphagia by electrophysiological methods. METHOD: Electrophysiological methods related to oropharyngeal swallowing were used to investigate 25 patients with cervical dystonia and 25 age matched normal volunteers. RESULTS: Dysphagia was suspected in 36% of patients with cervical dystonia on the basis of clinical assessment. The incidence of dysphagia increased to 72% on electrophysiological evaluation of pharyngeal swallowing. Submental muscle electromyographic (EMG) and laryngeal relocation times were significantly prolonged and the triggering time to swallowing reflex was significantly delayed. Some abnormalities seen in cricopharyngeal sphincter muscle EMG indicated that the striated sphincter muscle is hyperreflexive in some patients. CONCLUSION: Neurogenic dysphagia was more prominent and longer lasting than mechanical dysphagia, which was transient and varied from patient to patient. Although these electrophysiological methods were not suitable for detecting anatomical changes during swallowing, as in videofluoroscopic studies, observations supported the neurogenic cause of dysphagia in patients with any kind of cervical dystonia.

Peripheral facial palsy and dysfunction of the oropharynx.

The facial nerve contributes to the oropharyngeal phase of deglutition via the buccinator, perioral, digastricus posterior, and stylohyoid muscles. The gustatory and salivatory functions of the facial nerve are also known to contribute to swallowing. The relation between peripheral facial nerve palsy (PFP) and swallowing dysfunction has never been studied systematically. Forty four patients with unilateral Bell's palsy (acute or chronic stages) and 20 normal control subjects were investigated. In 66% of patients with PFP, oropharyngeal swallowing was disturbed as demonstrated electrophysiologically by the patients' dysphagia limit at or below 20 ml of water. In patients with PFP investigated within the first 2 weeks of the palsy, the dysphagia limit normalised during the period of recovery. Normalisation of the dysphagia limit is highly correlated with the recovery of PFP. Thus, subclinical deglutition is very frequent in patients with PFP. The severity of abnormal deglutition increased with the severity of the PFP, especially with the involvement of the perioral and buccinator muscles.

Dysphagia in lateral medullary infarction (Wallenberg's syndrome): an acute disconnection syndrome in premotor neurons related to swallowing activity?

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: We have investigated the pathophysiological mechanisms of dysphagia in Wallenberg's syndrome (WS) that are due to lateral medullary infarction (LMI). METHODS: Twenty patients with WS were evaluated by means of clinical and electrophysiological methods that measured the oropharyngeal phase of voluntarily initiated swallowing. For comparison, 22 patients with unilateral hemispheric infarction were investigated during the acute stage of stroke, and 4 patients with unilateral peripheral 9th and 10th cranial nerve palsies were studied. Age-matched 30 healthy control subjects were also included in the study. RESULTS: It was found that dysphagia was clinically more severe in WS patients than in the patients in the other groups. The pharyngeal phase of swallowing was predominantly impaired, whereas in patients with hemispheric stroke, dysphagia was related only to the delay of triggering of the voluntarily induced swallowing. In WS patients, the swallowing reflex was extremely slow in spite of the unilateral involvement due to LMI, whereas the pharyngeal phase of reflex swallowing remained within normal limits in patients with unilateral hemispheric stroke and patients with unilateral peripheral 9th and 10th cranial nerve palsies. CONCLUSIONS: Although in WS the lesion due to LMI is unilateral, its effect on oropharyngeal swallowing is bilateral. In LMI, primarily the premotor neurons in the nucleus ambiguous and their connections seem to be affected. Consequently, a disruption and/or disconnection of their linkage to swallowing-related cranial motor neuron pools bilaterally and to the contralateral nucleus ambiguous could produce the swallowing disorders in WS. However, the remaining intact ipsilateral premotor neurons and the contralateral center in the medulla oblongata may eventually begin to operate and overcome the severity and long-term persistence of dysphagia.

Voluntary and reflex influences on the initiation of swallowing reflex in man.

The electrophysiological features of voluntarily induced and reflexive/spontaneous swallows were investigated. In normal subjects, swallows were elicited by infusing water either into the mouth (1-3 ml) or directly into the oropharyngeal region through a nasopharyngeal cannula (0.3-1 ml). For water infused orally, subjects were either requested to swallow voluntarily or instructed to resist swallowing and maintain the horizontal head position until swallowing occurred reflexively. Spontaneous saliva swallowing was investigated in patients with severe dysphagia who had a prominent clinical picture of suprabulbar palsy. Comparisons between different swallowing types were made by measuring the time interval between the onset of submental electromyographic activity (SM-EMG) and the onset of the upward movement of the larynx recorded by a movement sensor. This interval was less than 100 ms, even frequently less than 50 ms, in reflexive/spontaneous swallows, while in voluntarily induced swallows it was substantially longer. The rising time of submental muscle's excitation was also shorter in reflexive/spontaneous swallows. It was suggested that the triggering of voluntarily induced swallows commences more than 100 ms before the onset of swallowing reflex and that this mechanism is under the control of corticobulbar-pyramidal pathways. If the swallowing reflex is triggered within such a short period of time following the onset of SM-EMG, the central control by the bulbar swallowing center should be effective until the end of oropharyngeal swallowing.

Cricopharyngeal sphincter muscle responses to transcranial magnetic stimulation in normal subjects and in patients with dysphagia.

OBJECTIVE: Cricopharyngeal (CP) muscle of the upper oesophageal sphincter (UES) has a significant role in the pharyngo-esophageal phase of deglutition. The linkage between the CP muscle of UES and the motor cortex has not been previously studied electrophysiologically in healthy humans and in patients with neurogenic dysphagia. METHODS: Needle recordings of EMG responses were carried out from the CP sphincter muscle following transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) over the vertex around the Cz electrode position (cortical MEP), and on the parieto-occipital skull and the occiput ipsilaterally (peripheral MEP) in 14 healthy control subjects and in 26 patients with and without neurogenic dysphagia. Needle recordings obtained from the cricothyroid muscle of the larynx were also evaluated in six healthy subjects. RESULTS: The cortical motor latency of CP sphincter muscle was 10.7+/-0.5 ms with an amplitude of 0.8+/-0.2 mV in healthy subjects. Both the latency and amplitude of CP-MEP were facilitated during swallowing. The peripheral MEP of the CP muscle was very stable in all normal subjects (5.1+/-0.3 ms; 1.3+/-0.3 mV) and swallowing did not influence these parameters. The cortically elicited CP-MEP was significantly longer than the cortical MEPs obtained from the cricothyroid muscle of the larynx. In 10 dysphagic patients with corticobulbar tract involvement (6 ALS and 4 pseudobulbar palsy) and with pathologic and hyperreflexic EMG of the CP-sphincter muscle, the cortical MEP of CP muscle of the upper esophageal sphincter could not be elicited, although the peripheral CP-MEPs were obtained. TMS never produced a swallowing movement in neither healthy subjects nor patients. CONCLUSION: The CP muscle of the upper esophageal sphincter can produce MEPs by cortical TMS and by stimulation at the root/nerve levels of vagus nerve. The MEP latency values and central motor delay suggest that there is an oligosynaptic corticobulbar pathway to the motoneurons of CP muscles. When the pathway is affected by a pathology (i.e. ALS or pseudobulbar palsy) the CP sphincter becomes hyperreflexic due to disinhibition and the cortical MEP of the CP muscle disappears due to degeneration of the corticobulbar pathway. These mechanisms appear to be responsible for the pathogenesis of dysphagia.

The electromyographic behavior of the thyroarytenoid muscle during swallowing.

The electromyographic (EMG) behavior of the laryngeal adductors (e.g., the thyroarytenoid [TA] muscle) during swallowing has been scarcely studied. However, the detailed analysis of TA muscle is important to understand the physiology of swallowing. We investigated 14 healthy adult subjects. Activation of the TA laryngeal adductor muscle was compared with the mechanically measured laryngeal up-down movement and with the onset of excitation of laryngeal elevators, such as submental (SM) muscles, during swallowing. The laryngeal adductor of TA and laryngeal elevators of SM muscles were electromyographically (integrated/rectified) recorded. The vertical laryngeal movements during swallowing were recorded using a piezoelectric sensor. The EMG behavior of the TA muscle revealed three different activities during swallowing. The basic activity was stable; it almost started with the upward movement of larynx and after the SM-EMG onset. A fore-burst was recorded just before the upward movement of the larynx and a late-burst appeared just after the downward movement. The fore-burst was proposed to be related with oral-laryngeal reflexes, and the late-burst could be a rebound activity after a short expiration of swallowing, while the basic activity is accepted to be a part of activity of central-pattern generator of swallowing program.