High-resolution manometry of the esophagus: more than a colorful view on esophageal motility?
Since the introduction of pressure measurement of the esophagus, there has been a stepwise improvement in manometric techniques and the recognition of esophageal manometry as a useful tool to evaluate esophageal function in clinical practice. The newest development in this field is high-resolution manometry of the esophagus. In this review, we will briefly discuss the indications for esophageal manometry and we will focus on the development of the technique of high-resolution manometry and the new insights that were obtained by using this emerging tool. We conclude that high-resolution esophageal manometry with spatiotemporal plotting of signals is a valuable research tool. Clinically, the solid-state high-resolution technique is attractive because it makes it easy to perform a high-quality manometric test. However, future studies will have to determine whether the yield of the technique is higher than that of conventional manometry.
Bredenoord
Albert J
AJ
St. Antonius Hospital, Dept of Gastroenterology, PO Box 2500, 3430 EM Nieuwegein, The Netherlands. a.bredenoord@antonius.net
Smout
André Jpm
AJ
D015154:Esophageal Motility Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004947:Esophagus / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008365:Manometry / Q000379:methods*