[Study on aspiration and swallowing exercise in stroke patients].

We investigated factors for aspiration by videofluoroscopy (VF) and swallowing exercises in stroke patients. Subjects were 102 stroke patients aged 34-101 years (mean 72.8+/-13.8 years) including 72 males and 30 females and for whom VF was performed because of suspected swallowing difficulty. They consisted of 64 patients with cerebral infarction, 33 patients with cerebral hemorrhage, and 5 patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage. Aspiration was classified into aspiration with choking and silent aspiration (SA) by the presence of a cough reflex. Eating instructions such as foodstuffs and intake methods and outcome were investigated. On VF, aspiration with foodstuffs was found in 59 of 102 (57.8%) patients and SA was found in 44 of them (44.1%). Some patients ate food on the ward in spite of SA in VF. Such patients were given eating instructions by the judgment of the attending physician, but foodstuffs and intake methods based on the results of VF could be changed in most cases. As for swallowing training, direct training was conducted only in a few patients in the group that presented overt aspiration in this study. On the other hand direct training was possible in the majority of patients if foodstuffs and intake methods were handled appropriately in SA. If these strok patients were approached with attention paid to the forms of foodstuffs and intake method on the basis of detailed evaluation on VF using mimic foodstuffs, eating was possible without aspiration in many cases.