Acid clearance and oesophageal sensitivity in patients with progressive systemic sclerosis

This study examined the hypothesis that impaired oesophageal peristalsis was associated with delayed oesophageal clearance of acid in patients with progressive systemic sclerosis (PSS), some of whom are thought to have impaired oesophageal sensitivity to acid. Sixteen patients with PSS had: (a) oesophageal manometry and endoscopy; (b) acid perfusion of the oesophagus with simultaneous measurement of intraoesophageal pH during perfusion and for the next 10 minutes; (c) 22 hour monitoring of intraoesophageal pH; and (d) an evaluation of reflux symptoms during and after perfusion and during overnight pH monitoring. By oesophageal manometry, eight patients had normal peristalsis and eight patients had impaired peristalsis. Oesophageal endoscopy was unremarkable in patients with normal peristalsis, whereas all patients with impaired peristalsis had oesophagitis. The time needed to clear the oesophagus of perfused acid was shorter (p