Screening for dysphagia in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis.

BACKGROUND: In multiple sclerosis (MS), dysphagia is an important and common clinical symptom. Although often overlooked and underdiagnosed, it can have a significant impact on a patient's life, including social integration, and it can lead to malnutrition, aspiration pneumonia, and suffocation, i.e., life-threatening complications. Early detection of dysphagia is essential to prevent these risks. However, the optimal screening method and the inter-relationship between different methods used for dysphagia screening are not clear. The aim of this study was to compare the diagnostic performance of a simple question about swallowing problems, the DYsphagia in MUltiple Sclerosis (DYMUS) swallowing questionnaire, and the Timed Water Swallowing Test (TWST) to detect dysphagia in people with relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS). METHODS: Patients with MS were asked about subjective swallowing difficulties and, regardless of their response, completed the DYMUS questionnaire and underwent the TWST at their routine follow-up visit. Patients with at least one positive screening method were offered an objective assessment of swallowing function using the Fiberoptic Endoscopic Evaluation of Swallowing (FEES). The results were statistically analyzed and correlated with demographic and MS-related parameters. RESULTS: Of the 304 people with RRMS enrolled in the study, 46 (15.1 %) reported having subjective difficulty swallowing when asked a simple question. The DYMUS questionnaire was positive in 59 (19.4 %) of the 304 patients; 51 (16.8 %) had an abnormality on the TWST. A clear correlation (r = 0.351, p < 0.01) was found between the DYMUS and TWST results, but a significant proportion of patients (about half) had an abnormality on only one of these tests. The positivity of at least one of the screening methods used (DYMUS or TWST) had a better chance of identifying a patient with dysphagia than a simple question (p < 0.001). Of the patients with a positive result for difficulty swallowing, 37 underwent FEES, which confirmed dysphagia in 94.6% of this subgroup. Patients with higher Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) scores, female gender, and older age were at higher risk of developing dysphagia. CONCLUSION: The DYMUS questionnaire and TWST had a confirmed potential to identify more patients with dysphagia than a simple question about swallowing problems. However, our study found only a partial overlap between DYMUS and TWST; a combination of these two methods was more sensitive in identifying patients with MS at risk of dysphagia. Furthermore, the screening showed excellent specificity: almost 95 % of the positively screened patients had dysphagia confirmed by objective methods. Age, female gender, and a higher EDSS score appear to be potential risk factors for dysphagia in patients with MS.

Evaluating Magnetic Resonance Diffusion Properties Together with Brain Volumetry May Predict Progression to Multiple Sclerosis.

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES: Although the gold standard in predicting future progression from clinically isolated syndrome (CIS) to clinically definite multiple sclerosis (CDMS) consists in the McDonald criteria, efforts are being made to employ various advanced MRI techniques for predicting clinical progression. This study's main aim was to evaluate the predictive power of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) of the brain and brain volumetry to distinguish between patients having CIS with future progression to CDMS from those without progression during the following 2 years and to compare those parameters with conventional MRI evaluation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: All participants underwent an MRI scan of the brain. DTI and volumetric data were processed and various parameters were compared between the study groups. RESULTS: We found significant differences between the subgroups of patients differing by future progression to CDMS in most of those DTI and volumetric parameters measured. Fractional anisotropy of water diffusion proved to be the strongest predictor of clinical conversion among all parameters evaluated, demonstrating also higher specificity compared to evaluation of conventional MRI images according to McDonald criteria. CONCLUSION: Conclusion: Our results provide evidence that the evaluation of DTI parameters together with brain volumetry in patients with early-stage CIS may be useful in predicting conversion to CDMS within the following 2 years of the disease course.