Silent aspiration in Parkinson's disease patients with diurnal sialorrhea

Objective: We studied the frequency of silent laryngeal penetration or silent aspiration (SLP/SA) in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients with diurnal sialorrhea. Patients and methods: In 19 consecutive PD patients with diurnal sialorrhea, swallow was evaluated using the videofluoroscopy analysis. Data were analysed to determine the frequency of aspiration and its relationship with the severity of sialorrhea. Results: All patients were classified in the Hoehn and Yahr stages between 2 and 5. SLP/SA was observed in 21% of patients and the score of sialorrhea in the group with SLP/SA was 8.0 +/- 0.81, while in the group with no SLP/SA was 6.46 +/- 1.06 (p =0.02). Conclusion: SLP/SA is a frequent morbidity in PD patients, its risk is higher in later stages of disease and in those patients with severe sialorrhea. However, prospective and controlled studies of follow up will be necessary to determine the prognosis and management in this group of patients. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.