Oesophageal motor activity in rheumatoid arthritis: a clinical and manometric study.

Oesophageal motor function was clinically and manometrically investigated by means of a low-compliance system in 24 nonselected rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients and 15 healthy controls. Dysphagia was referred by 37.5% of RA patients. Oesophageal motor abnormalities were discovered to be significantly present in a high percentage (62.5%) of patients with RA. However, there was no correlation between oesophageal motor abnormalities and any disease characteristic. It is concluded that a high percentage of RA patients have an oesophageal motor dysfunction, even in the absence of dysphagic symptoms.