[Motor function of the esophagus in patients with esophageal or gastric cancer]

Esophageal carcinoma is one of the most common malignant diseases in China. In order to clarify the pathophysiology of the esophageal motor dysfunction in the disease, a comparative study was done with esophageal manometry and 24 hour pH monitoring in 90 patients with esophageal carcinoma (EC) including 17 cardiac carcinoma (CC) and 56 healthy adult volunteers. The results showed that the resting pressure of the esophagus in patients was lower, particularly during swallowing and Valsalva test, than that of the normal subjects. It indicated that the patients with EC and CC had a hypodynamic esophagus so that a series of abnormal esophageal peristalsis and contractive waves were found. Besides the effect of mechanical obstruction of the tumor itself, it was believed to be a causative factor, at least in part, for the production of the clinical symptoms such as dysphagia and spastic odynophagia occurred during swallowing. Being the lower LESP, the patients with EC and CC presented pathological gastroesophageal reflux which was proved by 24 hour pH monitoring findings.