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Introduction Dysphagia is a relevant symptom in Parkinson disease (PD), and its pathophysiology is poorly understood. To date, researchers have not investigated the effects of combined motor tasks on swallowing. Such an assessment is of particular interest in PD, in which patients have specific difficulties while performing two movements simultaneously. Objective The present study tested the hypothesis that performing concurrent tasks could decrease the safety of swallowing in PD patients as visualized using fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES). Methods A total of 19 patients and 19 controls matched by age, gender, and level of schooling were compared by FEES under two conditions: isolated swallowing and dual task (swallowing during non-sequential opposition of the thumb against the other fingers). The two tasks involved volumes of food of 3 mL and 5 mL. The PD subjects were classified according to the Hoehn & Yahr (H&Y) Scale, the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE), and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). The FEES assessment was performed according to the Boston Residue and Clearance Scale (BRACS). Results The data showed a significant worsening of swallowing in the dual task assessment for both volumes (3 mL: p ≤ 0.001; 5 mL: p ≤ 0.001) in the PD group. A correlation between the MoCA and dual-task swallowing of 3 mL was also found. Conclusion These findings suggest that additional tasks involving manual motor movements result in swallowing impairment in patients with PD. Moreover, these data highlight the need to further evaluate such conditions during treatment and assessment of PD patients.

The Vibrant Soundbridge (VSB) system helps hearing impaired people who, for various reasons, are unable to use conventional hearing aids. This study presents our experience and outcomes with the first eight patients we implanted with this device. Method: Eight patients were implanted with a VSB in our department from 2006 to 2010. Seven of them had sensorineural hearing loss, while one case involved otosclerosis with mixed hearing loss. All patients received a VSB from Med-El.

Poster PresentationsP213 1, 2, 3, 4 kHz) the preoperative and postoperative air-bone gap were analyzed in order to ascertain whether the preoperative ABG could act as a predictor. Having not passed normality testing, Wilcoxon matched paired signed rank test and Spearman rank coefficient were used for analysis.Results: Throughout the statistical analysis, preoperative ABG correlated most strongly with net difference in postoperative ABG (P < .0001). For each commonly tested frequency assessed this demonstrated a "very strong" positive correlation. As such, the greater the preoperative ABG, the greater the closure obtained through stapedectomy in this series.Conclusions: In performing stapedectomy for otosclerosis, our series suggested the preoperative ABG may have a role in preoperative patient counseling and consent but is unable to predict success in stapedectomy surgery.