[The laryngological and neurological aspects of dysphagia]

Swallowing is a complex motor event that is difficult to investigate in man. A slowed ability to eat a meal, loss of salivary control with drooling, episodic coughing, and choking and nasal regurgitation occurred due to the dysphagia. Swallowing disorders can be divided into oropharyngeal dysphagia and oesophageal dysphagia. The most common cause of oropharyngeal dysphagia is cerebrovascular accidents; other causes may include oropharyngeal structural lesions, systematic and local muscular diseases, and diverse neurologic disorders. Oesophageal dysphagia may result from neuromuscular disorders, mobility abnormalities, and intrinsic or extrinsic obstructive lesions. Initial evaluation of patients with suspected oropharyngeal dysphagia includes patient history, laryngological and neurological examination, and careful videofluoroscopic study of pharyngeal dynamics. Initial evaluation of patients with suspected oesophageal dysphagia includes patient history and barium swallow with oesophagography. Classifying dysphagia as oropharyngeal, oesophageal and obstructive, or neuromuscular symptom complexes leads to a successful diagnosis in 80% of patients.