PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Berti, Beatrice AU - Fanelli, Lavinia AU - Stanca, Giulia AU - Onesimo, Roberta AU - Palermo, Concetta AU - Leone, Daniela AU - de Sanctis, Roberto AU - Carnicella, Sara AU - Norcia, Giulia AU - Forcina, Nicola AU - Coratti, Giorgia AU - Pera, Maria Carmela AU - Giorgio, Valentina AU - Ausili Cefaro, Carolina AU - Finkel, Richard AU - Pane, Marika AU - Mercuri, Eugenio TI - Oral and Swallowing Abilities Tool (OrSAT) in nusinersen treated patients AID - 10.1136/archdischild-2022-323899 DP - 2022 Oct 01 TA - Archives of Disease in Childhood PG - 912--916 VI - 107 IP - 10 4099 - http://adc.bmj.com/content/107/10/912.short 4100 - http://adc.bmj.com/content/107/10/912.full SO - Arch Dis Child2022 Oct 01; 107 AB - Introduction The aim of the study was to longitudinally assess swallowing abilities in nusinersen-treated patients with type 1 spinal muscular atrophy.Methods Twenty infants with type 1 SMA (11 female and 9 male) treated with nusinersen between 3 weeks and 15 months of age, were assessed using the Oral and Swallowing Abilities Tool (OrSAT). The duration of the follow-up after treatment ranged between 12 months and 62 months.Results Twelve of the 20 infants had normal swallowing and there was no need for tube feeding at the time treatment started. Ten of the 12 had consistently normal swallowing with no need for tube feeding on follow-up. The other two required tube feeding but they regained the ability to eat some food by mouth.The remaining 8 infants already had tube feeding inserted at the time treatment started: 4 of them also had tracheostomy and they showed no changes on the OrSAT Scale. The other 4 who had tube feeding but no tracheostomy had partial functional improvement.Conclusion Our results suggest that the degree of functional impairment at the time treatment is started can help to predict the progression of swallowing abilities. The use of a structured assessment also helped to detect partial improvements.Data are available upon reasonable request.