Clinical and fiberoptic endoscopic assessment of swallowing in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

INTRODUCTION: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is characterized by progressive and partially reversible obstruction of pulmonary airflow. AIM: To characterize swallowing in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and correlate the findings with the degree chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart and respiratory rate, oxygen saturation, and smoking. METHOD: We conducted a prospective cohort study of 19 patients (12 men and 7 women; age range, 50-85 years) with confirmed medical diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. This study was performed in 2 stages (clinica...