---
title: Assess speech and swallowing function
nct_id: NCT04706234
status: RECRUITING
sponsor: Kliniken Beelitz GmbH
study_type: OBSERVATIONAL
canonical_url: "https://parkinsonspathways.com/trial/NCT04706234"
clinicaltrials_gov: "https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT04706234"
last_fetched: "2026-05-10T14:01:40.216Z"
source: "Parkinson's Pathways (curated)"
---
# Assess speech and swallowing function

**Goal (in five words):** Assess speech and swallowing function

**Official Title:** Prospective Observational Study for the Systematic Assessment of Laryngopharyngeal Function in Patients With Neurodegenerative Diseases

**Trial ID:** [NCT04706234](https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT04706234)

## Key Facts

- **Status:** RECRUITING
- **Study Type:** OBSERVATIONAL
- **Sponsor:** Kliniken Beelitz GmbH
- **Target Enrollment:** 350 participants
- **Start Date:** 2017-09-01
- **Completion Date:** 2027-12-31
- **Conditions:** Multiple System Atrophy, Parkinson Disease, Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, Motor Neuron Disease, Neurodegenerative Diseases

## Summary For Families

The goal is to map and quantify laryngopharyngeal function, meaning swallowing, voice and airway protection, in people with Parkinson's and similar neurodegenerative diseases, so clinicians can better detect aspiration risk and tailor care. Participants get a FEES exam using a validated task protocol, where a thin camera is passed through the nose to watch the larynx and pharynx during specific tasks and swallows, allowing direct observation of secretions, airway closure, and swallow timing. This is observational, it does not change treatments like levodopa, it simply documents how these functions vary across diseases and stages. Adults 18 and older with diagnoses such as Parkinson's, multiple system atrophy, progressive supranuclear palsy, motor neuron disease, or other neurodegenerative disorders are eligible if they completed the FEES protocol and gave consent; Parkinson's cases can be Hoehn and Yahr stage I through V.

## Eligibility

- **Minimum age:** 18 Years
- **Sex:** ALL

### Full Criteria

```
Inclusion Criteria:

* diagnosis of probable or possible multiple system atrophy according to current consensus criteria (Gilman et al. 2008) or
* diagnosis of probable or possible PSP according to the the Movement Disorders Society (MDS) diagnostic criteria (Höglinger et al. 2017) or
* diagnosis of Parkinson's disease according to the MDS diagnostic criteria (Postuma et al 2015)
* Hoehn and Yahr Stage within the range of I-V or
* diagnosis of motor neurone disease or
* diagnosis of a neurodegenerative disease other than specified above

AND underwent laryngopharyngeal assessment according to the systematic task protocol during FEES (Warnecke et al. 2019).

Exclusion Criteria:

\- Patients who do not sign the consent form
```

## Locations (16)

- Department of Neurology and Department of ENT, Medical University Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Tyrol, Austria _(47.2627, 11.3945)_
  - Gregor Wenning, MD, PhD, MSc — (CONTACT) — +43676596 — gregor.wenning@i-med.ac.at
  - Alessandra Fanciulli, MD, PhD — (CONTACT) — +435125048 — Alessandra.Fanciulli@i-med.ac.at
  - Klaus Seppi, MD, PhD — (SUB_INVESTIGATOR)
  - Claus Pototschnig, MD, MSc — (SUB_INVESTIGATOR)
  - Florian Krismer, MD — (SUB_INVESTIGATOR)
  - Oliver Galvan, MD — (SUB_INVESTIGATOR)
  - Fabian Leys, MD — (SUB_INVESTIGATOR)
  - Cecilia Raccagni, MD — (SUB_INVESTIGATOR)
  - Victoria Sideroff, MD — (SUB_INVESTIGATOR)
  - Roberta Granata, MD — (SUB_INVESTIGATOR)
- Department of Neurology, Medical University of Ulm, Ulm, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany _(48.3984, 9.9916)_
  - Jan Kassubek, MD — (CONTACT) — jan.kassubek@uni-ulm.de
  - Rebecca Kassubek, MD — (CONTACT) — rebecca.kassubek@uni-ulm.de
  - Beate Lindner-Pfleghar, M.Sc. — (SUB_INVESTIGATOR)
- Movement Disorders Hospital - Kliniken Beelitz, Beelitz-Heilstätten, Brandenburg, Germany _(52.2597, 12.9266)_
  - Florin Gandor, MD — (CONTACT) — +49332042 — gandor@kliniken-beelitz.de
  - Doreen Gruber, MD — (CONTACT) — +49332042 — gruber@kliniken-beelitz.de
  - Annemarie Vogel, M.Sc. — (SUB_INVESTIGATOR)
  - Georg Ebersbach, MD — (SUB_INVESTIGATOR)
- Department of Neurology, Medical School Hannover, Hanover, Lower Saxony, Germany _(52.3705, 9.7332)_
  - Martin Klietz, MD — (CONTACT) — martin.klietz@mh-hannover.de
  - Katharina Pannewitz-Makaj, MD — (CONTACT) — Pannewitz-Makaj.Katharina@mh-hannover.de
  - Christoph Schrader, MD — (SUB_INVESTIGATOR)
- Department of Neurology, University Hospital Münster, Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany _(51.9624, 7.6257)_
  - Inga Claus, MD — (CONTACT) — inga.claus@ukmuenster.de
  - Sigrid Ahring — (SUB_INVESTIGATOR)
- Department of Neurology, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Dresden, Saxony, Germany _(51.0509, 13.7383)_
  - Björn Falkenburger, MD — (CONTACT) — +49351458 — Bjoern.Falkenburger@dzne.de
  - Inaki Schniewind, MD — (CONTACT) — Inaki.Schniewind@uniklinikum-dresden.de
- Department of Neueology Asklepios Klinik Stadtroda, Stadtroda, Thuringia, Germany _(50.8568, 11.7268)_
  - David Weise — (CONTACT) — +49 36428 56 — mailto:da.weise@asklepios.com
- Asklepios Fachklinikum Stadtroda, Stadtroda, Thuringia, Germany _(50.8568, 11.7268)_
  - David Weise, PD Dr — (CONTACT) — da.weise@asklepios.com
- Asklepios Klinik Barmbek, Hamburg, Germany _(53.5507, 9.9930)_
  - Peter P Urban, Prof. — (CONTACT) — c.herborn@asklepios.com
- Department of Neurology Asklepios Klinik Barmbek, Hamburg, Germany _(53.5507, 9.9930)_
  - Peter Urban, MD — (CONTACT) — 0401818823841 — p.urban@asklepios.com
- Department of Neurology, Movement Disorders Unit, Medical Center Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv, Israel _(32.0809, 34.7806)_
  - Tanya Gurevich, MD — (CONTACT) — tanyag@tlvmc.gov.il
  - Adi Ezra — (CONTACT) — adil@tlvmc.gov.il
- IRCCS Istituto delle Scienze Neurologiche, Azienda USL di Bologna, Bologna, Italy _(44.4938, 11.3387)_
  - Giulia Giannini, MD, PhD — (CONTACT) — giulia.giannini15@unibo.it
  - Luca Baldelli, MD — (CONTACT) — luca.baldelli4@unibo.it
- Department of Neurology, Gifu University Graduate School of Medicine, Gifu, Japan _(35.4229, 136.7604)_
  - Takayoshi Shimohata, MD PhD — (CONTACT)
  - Kenjiro Kunieda, MD PhD — (CONTACT) — +81 58 230 6254 — ken2rou.k@gmail.com
- Department of Neurology, Medical University Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland _(52.2298, 21.0118)_
  - Andrzej Friedman, MD, PhD — (CONTACT) — andrzej.friedman@wum.edu.pl
  - Natalia Madetko, MD — (CONTACT) — natalia.madetko@wum.edu.pl
- Department of Neurology SNUCM, Seoul, South Korea _(37.5660, 126.9784)_
  - Kim Han-Joon, MD PhD — (CONTACT) — movement@snu.ac.kr
- Unidad de Parkinson y Trastornos del Movimiento Instituto Clínic de Neurociencias, Hospital Clinic de Barcelona, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain _(41.3888, 2.1590)_
  - Maria J Marti, MD PhD — (CONTACT) — +34 93 227 57 85 — mjmarti@clinic.cat
  - Alexandra Perez, MD — (CONTACT) — +34 93 227 57 85 — aperez3@clinic.cat
  - Isabel Vilaseca, MD — (SUB_INVESTIGATOR)

## Central Contacts

- Florin Gandor, MD — (CONTACT) — +493320422781 — gandor@kliniken-beelitz.de
- Tobias Warnecke, MD — (CONTACT) — tobias.warnecke@klinikum-os.de

---

*Canonical: https://parkinsonspathways.com/trial/NCT04706234*  
*HTML version: https://parkinsonspathways.com/trial/NCT04706234*  
*Source data: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT04706234*