Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is defined as the pathological retrograde movement of gastric contents into the esophagus. Various esophageal motility disturbances which may be important in reflux are observed in patients with GERD. The main esophageal motility disorder in these patients is ineffective esophageal motility (IEM). Increased acid clearance time and IEM have been shown to be strongly associated with isolated proximal reflux. However, there are no data that conclusively link motility disorders with isolated distal reflux (IDR).

A research team, led by Dr. Yasemin Ozin from Turkey Yuksek Ihtisas Training and Research Hospital investigated manometric measurements in patients with IDR and compare the findings in individuals with and without erosive esophagitis.

Their study will be published on November 21, 2009 in the World Journal of Gastroenterology. In their study, patients with symptoms of GERD were evaluated with esophageal manometry, 24-h ambulatory pH monitoring, and upper gastrointestinal endoscopy.

Among patients with isolated distal reflux, the manometric findings of patients who had erosive disease and non-erosive disease were compared. There were no significant differences between the isolated distal reflux group and control group with respect to age, body mass index, and esophageal body contraction amplitude. Mean lower esophageal sphincter pressure was significantly higher in the control group. There were no differences between the erosive reflux disease and non-erosive reflux disease subgroups with respect to mean esophageal body contraction amplitude (EBCA), lower esophageal sphincter pressure, or DeMeester score. However, IEM was observed only in patients with erosive reflux disease.

The authors provided more insight into the pathophysiology of reflux disease. The finding of very low EBCA being observed only in patients with erosive disease might be helpful in identifying these patients.

Reference: Ozin Y, Dagli U, Kuran S, Sahin B. Manometric findings in patients with isolated distal gastroesophageal reflux. World J Gastroenterol 2009; 15(43): 5461-5464

Correspondence to-
Dr. Yasemin Ozin, Gastroenterology Department, Turkey Yuksek Ihtisas Training and Research Hospital, Kızılay Sokak, 06040 Sıhhıye, Ankara, Turkey. .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Telephone +90-312-3061827
Fax +90-312-29596 47
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About World Journal of Gastroenterology

World Journal of Gastroenterology (WJG), a leading international journal in gastroenterology and hepatology, has established a reputation for publishing first class research on esophageal cancer, gastric cancer, liver cancer, viral hepatitis, colorectal cancer, and H pylori infection and provides a forum for both clinicians and scientists. WJG has been indexed and abstracted in Current Contents/Clinical Medicine, Science Citation Index Expanded (also known as SciSearch) and Journal Citation Reports/Science Edition, Index Medicus, MEDLINE and PubMed, Chemical Abstracts, EMBASE/Excerpta Medica, Abstracts Journals, Nature Clinical Practice Gastroenterology and Hepatology, CAB Abstracts and Global Health. ISI JCR 2008 IF: 2.081. WJG is a weekly journal published by WJG Press. The publication dates are the 7th, 14th, 21st, and 28th day of every month. WJG is supported by The National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 30224801 and No. 30424812, and was founded with the name of China National Journal of New Gastroenterology on October 1, 1995, and renamed WJG on January 25, 1998.

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