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Adapting Human Videofluoroscopic Swallow Study Methods to Detect and Characterize Dysphagia in Murine Disease Models
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Integration of suck and swallow rhythms during feeding in preterm infants with and without bronchopulmonary dysplasia

Ira H Gewolb1, James F Bosma, Eric W Reynolds

  • 1Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA. igewolb@peds.umaryland.edu

Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology
|May 6, 2003
PubMed

Insights

Preterm infants with bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) show delayed development of integrated suck-swallow rhythms compared to healthy infants. This impacts feeding efficiency and maturation, highlighting BPD as a risk factor for altered oral feeding patterns.

Area of Science:

  • Neonatology
  • Pediatric Gastroenterology
  • Developmental Neuroscience

Background:

  • Assessing the integration and maturation of suck and swallow rhythms is crucial for understanding oral feeding development in preterm infants.
  • Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is a common complication in preterm infants that may affect neurodevelopmental outcomes, including feeding abilities.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To define quantitative measures for assessing the integration and maturation of suck and swallow rhythms in preterm infants.
  • To compare the development of suck-swallow rhythm integration in preterm infants with and without BPD.

Main Methods:

  • Simultaneous recordings of nipple and pharyngeal pressure were used in 14 preterm infants with BPD and 20 age-matched preterm infants without BPD.
  • The coefficient of variation (COV) of the suck-swallow dyad interval was calculated to quantify rhythm integration and stability.
  • Infants were studied weekly from the initiation of oral feeding.

Main Results:

  • Infants without BPD showed a significant correlation between increasing postmenstrual age (PMA) and decreasing COV, indicating increasing stabilization of suck-swallow rhythms.
  • In infants without BPD, improved dyadic stability was observed with increasing PMA and correlated with feeding efficiency.
  • Infants with BPD exhibited less dyadic stability, which was not correlated with PMA and was significantly lower than in age-matched controls, especially after 35 weeks PMA.

Conclusions:

  • The ontogeny of rhythmic suckle feeding can be quantitatively described in preterm infants.
  • Infants with BPD do not follow the predicted maturational patterns of suck-swallow rhythmic integration.
  • Impaired suck-swallow rhythm integration in infants with BPD may contribute to feeding difficulties and warrants further investigation.

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