Esophageal Motor Abnormalities Induced by Acid Perfusion

The clinical diagnosis of esophagitis is suggested by the presence of severe heartburn which is aggravated by the recumbent position. The symptom is generally worse after eating and is relieved by antacids. It is generally held that increased reflux of gastric contents leads to the development of esophagitis and that the pain is associated with an inflammatory process. In many patients with symptoms that suggest a diagnosis of esophagitis, however, there is, no endoscopic or histologic evidence of inflammation. The poor correlation between the clinical diagnosis of esophagitis and the endoscopic and histologic observations led to an investigation of esophageal motor function in these patients.