[Dysphagia in oculopharyngeal myopathies. Report of 7 cases]

Swallowing disorders have been studied in seven patients with oculopharyngeal myopathy. All patients presented with symptoms dominated by solid food dysphagia and false passages. Two of them had a considerably deteriorated general and pulmonary condition. Manometry demonstrates a decrease in pharyngeal populsion in six patients but does not detect any anomaly in the function of the upper sphincter of the esophagus. Three patients were operated with myotomy of the cricopharyngeus. The procedure led to the disappearance of the disorders in two of them, while it was a failure in the third. Swallowing disorders, the difficulties of manometric exploration and the role of myotomy are discussed in this article.