Anodal transcranial direct current stimulation and intermittent theta‐burst stimulation improve deglutition and swallowing reproducibility in elderly patients with dysphagia

• Published in: Neurogastroenterology and motility Vol. 32; no. 5; pp. e13791 - n/a
• Main Authors: Cosentino, Giuseppe, Tassorelli, Cristina, Prunetti, Paolo, Bertino, Giulia, De Icco, Roberto, Todisco, Massimiliano, Di Marco, Salvatore, Brighina, Filippo, Schindler, Antonio, Rondanelli, Mariangela, Fresia, Mauro, Mainardi, Luca, Restivo, Domenico A., Priori, Alberto, Sandrini, Giorgio, Alfonsi, Enrico
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.05.2020
• Subjects: Aged; Aging; brain stimulation; Cortex (motor); Cross-Over Studies; Deglutition; Deglutition Disorders - physiopathology; Deglutition Disorders - therapy; Double-Blind Method; Dysphagia; Electrical stimulation of the brain; ESB; Female; Geriatrics; Humans; Male; Motor Cortex - physiopathology; Neurological diseases; Pharynx; presbydysphagia; Prospective Studies; Public health; Reproducibility; Swallowing; TBS; tDCS; TMS; Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation - methods; Treatment Outcome; brain stimulation; TMS; TBS; tDCS; presbydysphagia
• ISSN: 1350-1925; 1365-2982; 1365-2982
• DOI: 10.1111/nmo.13791

Background Dysphagia in the elderly, known as presbydysphagia, has become a relevant public health problem in several countries. Swallowing disorders may be a consequence of different neurological disorders (secondary presbydysphagia) or the expression of the aging process itself (primary presbydysphagia). We aimed to test the therapeutic potential of two different non‐invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) techniques in subjects with primary or secondary presbydysphagia. Methods A blinded randomized controlled trial with crossover design was carried out in 42 patients, randomly assigned to anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) or intermittent theta‐burst stimulation (TBS) group. Both tDCS and TBS were applied for 5 consecutive days over the right swallowing motor cortex. The swallowing function was assessed before and 1 and 3 months after the stimulation using the Dysphagia Outcome and Severity Scale (DOSS), scored based on clinical assessment and fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing. An electrophysiological method was also applied to evaluate changes in the reproducibility of the swallowing behavior. Key Results Both real tDCS and TBS had beneficial effects on the swallowing function in patients with primary and secondary presbydysphagia. Anodal tDCS resulted in an improvement of 0.5 points in DOSS at 1‐month follow‐up (P = .014), whereas intermittent TBS induced an increase of 0.7 and 0.6 points at 1‐ and 3‐month follow‐up evaluations, respectively (P = .0001 and P = .005, respectively). Reproducibility of both the oral and pharyngeal phases of swallowing significantly increased at 1‐month follow‐up. Conclusions and Inferences Our results suggest that non‐invasive cortical stimulation may be useful for dysphagia recovery in elderly patients. Both anodal tDCS and intermittent TBS ameliorate the swallowing function in elderly patients with dysphagia, with effects lasting up to 1 month from the end of the stimulation period for tDCS, and 3 months for TBS. Prevalence of oropharyngeal dysphagia is huge and in alarming growth in the elderly population, both with or without neurological disorders, thus optimization of treatment strategies for swallowing disturbances is mandatory in view of the high mortality associated with this symptom.