[Manometric study of the upper esophageal sphincter in normal subjects and in patients with achalasia of the cardia].

The authors explored the motor behavior of the upper esophageal sphincter in normal subjects and in patients with achalasia of the cardia, in a manometric investigation involving the measurement of intraluminal pressure both with axial and with radial catheters. The former were used to assess motor coordination between the various segments of the esophagus; the latter for recording basal pressure along various diameters. The data concerning pressure at rest, relaxation time, and motor coordination relative to adjacent segments, were then compared with the corresponding data obtained in a group of patients treated surgically by Heller cardiomyotomy and Dor, antireflux esophagoplasty, and then with those obtained in a group of normal subjects. Statistical processing of data by the T test of STUDENT failed to reveal any significant differences between the three groups being compared. This is taken to mean complete motor independence of the upper esophageal sphincter in achalasia in relation to the remaining segments of the esophagus, whereas these segments are themselves subject to considerable variations of pressure and motility.