Esophageal motility in low-grade reflux esophagitis, evaluated by stationary and 24-hour ambulatory manometry.

Whereas previous studies have unequivocally shown that esophageal motility is abnormal in patients with severe reflux esophagitis, the results of motility testing in patients with low-grade esophagitis are inconsistent. We studied 27 patients with Savary grade I and II esophagitis and 24 healthy controls matched for age and sex. Both underwent conventional manometry and 24-h ambulatory pH and pressure monitoring. Esophageal acid exposure was greater in patients than controls. The mean lower esophageal sphincter pressure was significantly lower in esophagitis patients [1.46 +/- 0.09 vs. 1.79 +/- 0.11 kPa (10.98 +/- 0.68 vs. 13.46 +/- 0.83 mm Hg)]. The total number of contractions recorded in the 24-h period was not different in the patient group (2168 +/- 108.4 vs. 2033 +/- 130.5), but esophagitis patients had an increased number of nontransmitted contractions (968 +/- 39.4 vs. 773 +/- 50.2, p < 0.01). A tendency toward a decreased prevalence of peristaltic contractions just failed to reach statistical significance (p = 0.07). Both conventional manometry and 24-h monitoring showed no significant difference in peristaltic amplitude between the two groups. Differences in contraction duration (2.02 +/- 0.08 vs. 2.39 +/- 0.12 s, p < 0.01) and velocity of the peristaltic wave (3.65 +/- 0.10 vs. 4.63 +/- 0.13 cm/s, p < 0.01) were only detected by 24-h monitoring. The findings made in this study do not support the concept that impaired esophageal peristalsis is a major factor in the pathogenesis of low-grade esophagitis.