Clinical Features and Voxel-Based-Symptom-Lesion Mapping of Silent Aspiration in Acute Infratentorial Stroke

This study is a retrospective observational study based on a prospectively collected FEES and stroke database. Consecutive patient cases with acute ischemic infratentorial stroke and FEES examination between 2017 and 2022 were identified. Group allocation was performed based on PAS scores. Imaging analysis was performed by manual assignment and by  VBS/ML. Group comparisons were performed to assess silent aspiration characteristics. Binary logistic regression analysis was performed to determine if baseline clinical, demographic, and imaging parameters were helpful in predicting silent aspiration in patients. In this study 84 patient cases wi th acute infratentorial stroke who underwent FEES examination were included. Patients were moderately affected at admission (mean NIH-SS score at admission 5.7 SD ± 4.7). Most lesions were found pontine. Overall 40.5% of patients suffered from silent aspiration, most frequently in case of bilat eral lesions. Patients with silent aspiration had higher NIH-SS scores at admission (p <  0.05), had a more severe swallowing disorder (p <  0.05) and were 4.7 times more likely to develop post-stroke pneumonia. Patients who underwent FEES examination later than 72 h after symptom onset were significantly more likely to suffer from silent aspiration and to develop pneumonia compared to patients who underwent FEES examination within t he first 72 h (p <  0.05). A binary logistic regression model identified NIH-SS at admi...
Source: Dysphagia - Category: Speech-Language Pathology Source Type: research