[High-resolution manometry of pharyngeal swallowing dynamics]

Area of Science:

• Gastroenterology
• Swallowing Disorders
• Physiology

Background:

• Pharyngeal muscle contraction and upper esophageal sphincter (UES) coordination are vital for bolus transport from mouth to stomach.
• Manometric methods, increasingly used in the pharynx, assess intraluminal pressure and muscle function during swallowing.
• Pharyngeal high-resolution manometry (pHRM) offers high spatial and temporal resolution for detailed swallowing dynamics assessment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To provide an overview of pharyngeal high-resolution manometry (pHRM) implementation.
• To discuss the evaluation and interpretation of pHRM data.
• To review the current state of research in pHRM for swallowing assessment.

Main Methods:

• Literature search of PubMed and Scopus databases.
• Inclusion of original articles, reviews, and book chapters on pHRM.
• Keywords used: "high-resolution manometry" and "pharynx" or "upper esophageal sphincter".

Main Results:

• pHRM enables assessment of pharyngeal and UES pressure conditions during swallowing.
• Spatiotemporal pressure plots visualize changes in pharyngeal motor function.
• Swallowing parameters derived from pHRM allow sophisticated evaluation and pathology delimitation against normal values.

Conclusions:

• pHRM is a valuable tool for assessing pharyngeal and UES function.
• While some parameters require further clinical validation, pHRM is essential for comprehensive swallowing evaluation.
• pHRM studies should be routinely performed for a thorough understanding of the swallowing process.