Dysarthria

About: Dysarthria is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 2402 publications have been published within this topic receiving 56554 citations.

Communication disorders in the elderly

Abstract: The percentage of elderly individuals in the general population is increasing because of rising average life expectancy. Elderly people today enjoy much more active and more communicative lives than previous generations. However, due to age related changes and the increasing prevalence of diseases affecting phonation, articulation, respiration, speech, deglutition and their neurological regulation mechanisms – dysphonia, dysarthria, aphasia/dysphasia and dysphagia, they are becoming more frequent in this population group. These communication disorders can cause social isolation, anxiety and depression. Patients and family members alike suffer from the negative impact these disorders have on communication and quality of life. The prevalence of age related voice problems in the elderly is reported to be as high as 20–47%, for speech and/or language problems 70–75%, and up to 40% for dysphagia. There is a growing need for effective therapeutic approaches to communication disorders in the elderly. Phy...

Phenotypic heterogeneity in patients with NEFL‐related Charcot–Marie–Tooth disease

Abstract: Charcot–Marie–Tooth disease (CMT) is the most common hereditary peripheral neuropathy. Mutations in the neurofilament light polypeptide (NEFL) gene produce diverse clinical phenotypes, including demyelinating (CMT1F), axonal (CMT2E), and intermediate (CMTDIG) neuropathies. From 2005 to 2020, 1,143 Korean CMT families underwent gene sequencing, and we investigated the clinical, genetic, and neuroimaging spectra of NEFL‐related CMT patients. Ten NEFL mutations in 17 families (1.49%) were identified, of which three (p.L312P, p.Y443N, and p.K467N) were novel. Eight de novo cases were identified at a rate of 0.47 based on a cosegregation analysis. The age of onset was ≤3 years in five cases (13.5%). The patients revealed additional features including delayed walking, ataxia, dysphagia, dysarthria, dementia, ptosis, waddling gait, tremor, hearing loss, and abnormal visual evoked potential. Signs of ataxia were found in 26 patients (70.3%). In leg MRI analyses, various degrees of intramuscular fat infiltration were found. All compartments were evenly affected in CMT1F patients. The anterior and anterolateral compartments were affected in CMT2E, and the posterior compartment was affected in CMTDIG. Thus, NEFL‐related CMT patients showed phenotypic heterogeneities. This study's clinical, genetic, and neuroimaging results could be helpful in the evaluation of novel NEFL variants and differential diagnosis against other CMT subtypes.

Dysarthria as the isolated clinical symptom of borreliosis--a case report.

Abstract: This report presents a case of dysarthria due to hypoglossal nerve mono-neuropathy as the only consequence of neuroborreliosis. The 65-year-old man with a seven-months history of articulation disturbances was examined. The speech of the patient was slow and laboured. A slight weakness of the muscles of the tongue (left-side) was observed. The patient suffered from meningitis due to Borrelia burgdorferi infection in 1999 and initially underwent a successful antibiotic treatment. Detailed radiological investigation and psychological tests were performed and co-existing neurological diseases were excluded. To describe profile of speech abnormalities the dysarthria scale was designed based on S. J. Robertson Dysarthria Profile. There were a few disturbances found in self-assessment of speech, intelligibility, articulation, and prosody but especially in the morphology of the articulation muscles, diadochokinesis, the reflexes (in the mouth, larynx and pharynx). Needle EMG examination confirmed the diagnosis of mono-neuropathy of left hypoglossal nerve. The study confirms the fact that neuroborreliosis may evoke chronic consequences.