AMBULATORY ESOPHAGEAL MANOMETRY PH-METRY DISCRIMINATES BETWEEN PATIENTS WITH DIFFERENT ESOPHAGEAL SYMPTOMS

Ambulatory esophageal manometry/pH-metry has been used primarily in pa tients with chest pain of presumed esophageal origin, and it is unclea r whether the discriminating power of this test applies to other esoph ageal symptoms, In the present study, prolonged ambulatory manometry/p H recordings were compared in 17 healthy controls, 12 patients with at ypical chest pain, and 11 patients with chest pain and nonstructural d ysphagia using the Synectics microdigitrapper system, Chest pain patie nts tended to have higher values for all the pH variables, but their e sophageal motility parameters were no different than controls, On the other hand, the chest pain plus dysphagia group was characterized by a significantly lower proportion of propagated contractions between 10 and 5 cm above the lower esophageal sphincter. This group also tended to have a higher frequency of high-amplitude or prolonged-duration con tractions, In comparison to the results of standard stationary esophag eal manometry, the prolonged ambulatory recordings were more sensitive in detecting esophageal motor dysfunction in the two patient groups, This study suggests that quantitative analysis of ambulatory pH/motili ty recordings is a sensitive method of evaluating patients with suspec ted esophageal dysfunction.