Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: sonographic evaluation of dysphagia

The authors sought to determine the role of video ultrasonography (VUS) in the diagnostic assessment of dysphagia in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

Nine patients underwent simultaneous static and dynamic VUS examination and videofluoroscopy (VFS) of swallowing.

At the static phase, VUS showed 5/9 patients had lingual atrophy. Abnormal bolus position was observed in 6/9 patients at VUS and 3/9 at VFS. Both techniques identified an inability to keep the bolus in the oral cavity in 4/9 patients. At the dynamic phase, reduced lingual movement was observed in 5/9 patients at VUS and 2/9 at VFS. Disorganised tongue movement was seen in 3/9 patients at VUS and in 2/9 at VFS. Fragmented swallowing was only visualised at VUS. Stagnation of ingested material was never visualised at VUS, whereas it was clearly depicted in 2/9 patients at VFS.

VUS can be integrated into the diagnostic protocol for evaluating swallowing in patients with ALS, as it has higher sensitivity than VFS in assessing the dynamic factors that represent the early signs of dysphagia.