Neurologic causes of dysphagia

Abstract

Pharyngeal dysphagia may be caused by any of a wide variety of neurologic diseases, but the possibility of neurologic disease is often over-looked in the evaluation of dysphagia. This is especially unfortunate because some of the neurologic causes of dysphagia are treatable. This review organizes the neurologic causes of dysphagia into a simple framework that facilitates consideration of these diseases. Methods of evaluating neurogenic dysphagia, including history taking, physical examination, and laboratory testing, are to be considered separately in a subsequent article.