ALTERED ESOPHAGEAL MOTILITY DURING PERCEPTION OF BOLUS TRANSIT IN HEALTHY VOLUNTEERS

The perception of bolus transit through the thoracic esophagus may be caused by altered esophageal anatomy and function.

To evaluate the hypothesis that, in healthy volunteers, swallows followed by perception of esophageal bolus transit are associated with changes in esophageal motility.

Simultaneous evaluation of motility and perception of esophageal bolus transit was performed in 22 healthy volunteers. Esophageal motility was evaluated by high-resolution manometry with a 32-channel solid state catheter. Each volunteer performed, in the sitting position, 10 swallows of a 5 mL bolus of saline and 10 swallows of pieces of 1 cm3 of bread, with an interval of at least 30 seconds between swallows. After each swallow the volunteers were asked about the perception of bolus transit through the esophagus.

Perception of bolus transit occurred in 11.7% of liquid swallows and in 48.1% of solid swallows. In liquid swallows the perception was associated with higher distal contractile integral and shorter proximal contraction length. Perception of solid bolus transit was associated with a longer distal latency, longer proximal contraction length, lower proximal contractile integral and shorter proximal contraction duration.

The perception of swallowed bolus transit through the esophagus in healthy individuals is more frequent with solid than liquid swallows and is associated with changes in proximal esophageal contractions.