Zespół zamknięcia w diagnozie i terapii logopedycznej

The locked-in syndrome is a neurological condition that arises through different pathomechanisms resulting in damage to deep brain structures. The damage affects corticobulbar and corticospinal tracts, thereby causing the patient’s complete physical disability, with retained consciousness and full cognitive capability. Anarthria-type speech disorders occurring in patients with the locked-in syndrome require the use of alternative communication techniques in order to restore their ability to communicate with the world around them. The impossibility of interaction with the patient causes considerable diagnostic and therapeutic difficulties to neuro-speech therapists. Standards of speech-therapy management in locked-in syndrome cases and criteria for differentiating it from other syndromes have not yet been developed. There is an increasingly frequent need to rehabilitate patients with the locked-in syndrome, which has been caused by both improved standards of clinical treatment and the spread of knowledge about the syndrome itself and about the life situation of patients affected by it.