Oesophageal symptoms and manometry in valvular heart disease.

A possible relationship between heart disease, oesophageal dysfunction (OD) and symptomatology was studied in 47 patients with valvular heart disease. They were investigated with oesophageal manometry and oesophageal acid perfusion test. OD was found in 32 percent of the patients. A local pressure increase in the middle part of the oesophagus, probably an effect of cardiac enlargement and compression of the oesophagus, was found at manometry in 38 percent. The incidence of OD and of oesophageal symptoms was the same in patients with and without oesophageal compression. We did not find any indications that valvular disease in itself provokes OD, nor that symptoms of chest pain and cough in patients with valvular heart disease are due to OD.