Effect of pentagastrin and gastric alkalinization on lower esophageal sphincter pressure in diffuse esophageal spasm

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of intravenous pentagastrin and gastric alkalinization on the lower esophageal sphincter (LES) pressure in seven patients with diffuse esophageal spasm as compared to nine normal controls. Intravenous injections of 0.2 and 0.4 mug pentagastrin/kg body weight increased LES pressure significantly more in patients than in control subjects (p less than 0.05, p less than 0.01). Following gastric alkalinization both groups showed increases in LES pressure, but these were significantly greater for patients with diffuse esophageal spasm (p less than 0.05) than for controls. The results of our study indicate that the LES in patients with diffuse esophageal spasm is supersensitive to pentagastrin and gastric alkalinization.