Spontaneous Orofacial Movements at Writhing and Fidgety General Movements Age in Preterm and Full-Term Infants.

BACKGROUND: As general spontaneous movements at the writhing and fidgety ages have been important for the early identification of neurodevelopmental impairment of both full-term and preterm infants, the knowledge of the spontaneous orofacial movements at these ages also seems to be important for the diagnosis of oral function, particularly in preterm infants. Therefore, we decided to first classify preterm and full-term infants according to general movements ages, and then to record, describe, compare, and discuss their spontaneous orofacial movements. METHODS: This cross-sectional study included 51 preterm infants (born between 28 and 36 weeks) and 43 full-term infants who were classified at the writhing and fidgety ages of Prechtl's method of general movements assessment. Their spontaneous orofacial movements were recorded on video, and The Observer XT software (Noldus) was used to record the quantitative values of the movements. RESULTS: Poor repertoires of writhing movements were more frequent in the preterm infants (90.9%) compared to full-term ones (57.9%). Positive fidgety movements were observed in 100% of both preterm and full-term infants. Oral movements were similar for both preterm and full-term infants, regardless of their movement stage. CONCLUSION: All spontaneous orofacial movements were present both in preterm and full-term infants, albeit with higher frequency, intensity, and variability at fidgety age.

Registro eletromiográfico da musculatura facial a partir de estímulos cutâneos em indivíduos com síndrome de down / Electromyografhic register of cutaneously stimulated facial muscle in patiens with down`s syndrome

O conceito Rodolfo Castillo-Morales, no que se refere à terapia de regulaçäo orofacial, objetiva a ativaçäo da musculatura do complexo orofacial por meio de estimulaçäo pressórica e proprioceptiva de zonas motoras faciais. Estas zonas constituem locais de reaçäo que, ativados por estímulos cutâneos, produziriam respostas motoras de um músculo ou de uma cadeia de músculos tanto em pacientes com Síndrome de Down quanto com outras patologias. A partir deste conceito, nossa pesquisa consistiu em registrar objetivamente, por meio de eletromiografia, as respostas motoras, no sentido de verificar a relaçäo de causa e efeito entre os estímulos e as reaçöes dos músculos faciais. Para tanto, estudamos quatro indivíduos com Síndrome de Down e dois indivíduos sem a síndrome nem qualquer outro distúrbio do desenvolvimento, pareados por sexo e de mesma faixa etária (11 a 14 anos). Todas as zonas motoras estimuladas bem como músculos adjacentes desencadearam resposta muscular correspondente captada e registrada pelo eletromiógrafo de superfície

Fonoaudiologia aplicada a respiracao, voz e fala de criancas portadoras de transtornos neurologicos

Este artigo aborda de forma didatica ampla revisao dos mecanismos envolvidos com a producao normal da voz, enfatizando a importancia da fisiologia respiratoria, do desenvolvimento normal e biomecanica da respiracao no entendimento dos aspectos patologicos e terapeuticos da respiracao e sua relacao com a voz e a fala em criancas portadoras de transtornos neurologicos, especialmente a paralisia cerebral.