title: Esophagitis and esophageal motor abnormalities in patients with chronic spinal cord injuries.
abstract: To investigate the frequency and severity of esophagitis and esophageal dysmotility in patients with chronic spinal cord injury (SCI), 46 males with chronic SCI completed a questionnaire regarding gastrointestinal symptomatology. Eleven of these patients subsequently underwent upper gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopy with esophageal biopsies and 10 of the 11 also had esophageal motility studies. A significantly higher percentage of SCI patients experienced heartburn (SCI 61%; controls (C) 40%), esophageal chest pain (SCI 33%; C 6.4%), and intermittent dysphagia (SCI 30%; C 8.5%). Forty-five percent of SCI patients had endoscopic evidence of mild esophagitis, and 91% of them had histologic evidence of esophagitis. SCI patients had low amplitude, slowly propagating abnormal (double-peaked) peristatic esophageal contractions. We conclude that SCI patients experience significantly more esophageal symptoms than controls. They have a higher incidence of esophagitis and esophageal motor abnormalities. The clinical relevance of these abnormalities remains to be evaluated.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Loyola University Medical Center, Maywood, Illinois 60153.
authors.forename: J G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Stinneford
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Keshavarzian
authors.forename: B A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Nemchausky
authors.forename: M I
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Doria
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Durkin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002908:Chronic Disease; D015154:Esophageal Motility Disorders / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D004941:Esophagitis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D004947:Esophagus / Q000503:physiopathology; D005769:Gastrointestinal Motility / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010528:Peristalsis / Q000502:physiology; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000150:complications*