[Pharyngo-esophageal time in Chagas esophageal disease]

The pharyngoesophageal time, the time interval between the peak pharyngeal pressure and the peak esophageal pressure ten centimeters apart, after wet deglutitions, was measured in 50 controls and 37 chagasic patients. The time was 2.90 +/- 0.64 seconds in controls and 3.69 +/- 1.32 seconds in chagasics (P less than 0.01). In Chagas' disease the esophagus shows a delay in contraction produced by wet deglutitions.