Oropharyngeal dysphagia and esophageal motility disorders were found to be the most important causes of aspiration pneumonia in patients with myotonic dystrophy. The purpose of this report was to evaluate clinical characteristics of the oral motor movements and swallowing of individuals with myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1) using a standardized clinical protocol and surface electromyography (sEMG). Participants were 40 individuals divided in two groups: G1 composed of 20 adults with DM1 and G2 composed of 20 healthy volunteers paired by age and gender to the individuals in G1. Statistical analysis included one-way ANOVA with two factors for within- and between-group comparisons and Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons. Patients with DM1 presented deficits in posture, position, and mobility of the oral motor structures, as well as compromised mastication and deglutition. The sEMG data indicated that these patients had longer muscle activations during swallowing events. The longer duration of sEMG in the group of patients with DM1 is possibly related to myotonia and/or incoordination of the muscles involved in the swallowing process or could reflect a physiological adaptation for safe swallowing.

Background: the use of a technological resource in fluency promotion. Aim: to verify the effectiveness of a stuttering treatment based on the use of surface electromyography (SEMG) exclusively. Method: participants were four stuttering adults of both genders. Assessment, pre and post-treatment, consisted of a speech gathering session and the analyses of the rest tension and of the reaction time for speech. Treatment consisted of twelve twenty minute training sessions monitored by SEMG. Results: there was a statistically significant reduction in the number of stuttering-like disfluencies (p = 0.094) and in the number of other disfluencies (p = 0.014). The other parameters, as well as differences in the electromyographic measurements, did not present significant variation. Conclusion: SEMG proved to be effective in the reduction of stuttering, with no need of association to other techniques.

the results indicate that the experience with stuttering is different among the individuals in terms of the observable speech characteristics, functional communication difficulties experienced by the individual in everyday situations, having a negative impact in the quality of life.

Aos funcionários do ambulatório de Miopatias do Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo, pela ajuda, simpatia e agradável convívio durante esta etapa. À Profa. Dra Claudia Regina Furquim de Andrade, pela exemplar conduta e seriedade na construção da ciência da Fonoaudiologia, pelos seus ensinamentos e conquistas no Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo. `As fonoaudiólogas e lindas amigas, Laura Davison Mangilli, Fabiola S. Juste, Gisele C. de Medeiros e Danielle P. Moraes, pela cumplicidade, auxilio e carinho. Ao Aristide Correia, pela disponibilidade e atenção com a analise estatística do estudo.