Upper esophageal sphincter augmentation reduces pharyngeal reflux in nasogastric tube-fed patients

Upper Esophageal Sphincter Metrics across Eosinophilic Esophagitis, Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease and Functional Dysphagia: A Pilot Study

BACKGROUND

Recent studies have evaluated the upper esophageal sphincter (UES) with high-resolution manometry (HRM) in some esophageal diseases, but not eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE). The aim of our study was to evaluate the function of the UES across EoE, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), functional dysphagia (FD), and the relationship with esophageal symptoms, esophageal body contraction, and esophagogastric junction (EGJ) metrics.

METHODS

HRM was performed on 30 EoE, 18 GERD, and 29 FD patients according to the Chicago Classification 3.0. The study data were exported to the online analysis platform Swallow Gateway. The UES was assessed in terms of UES Resting Pressure (UES-RP), UES Basal Pressure (UES-BP), UES Integrated Relaxation Pressure (UES-IRP), UES Relaxation Time (UES-RT), Basal UES Contractile Integral (Basal UES-CI), Post-Deglutitive UES Contractile Integral (Post-Deglutitive UES-CI), and Proximal Contractile Integral (PCI).

RESULTS

ANOVA analysis showed significantly higher values of Post-Deglutitive UES-CI in EoE patients compared with FD patients (p = 0.001). Basal UES-CI and UES-RP showed significantly higher values in EoE (p = 0.002, p = 0.038) and GERD (p < 0.001, p = 0.001) patients compared with FD patients. Correlations between LES-CI and Post-Deglutitive UES-CI, Basal UES-CI, and UES-RP (p ≤ 0.001, p = 0.027, p = 0.017, respectively), and between LES-BP and Post-Deglutitive UES-CI (p = 0.019), independent of diagnosis, were shown. No correlations have been demonstrated between the UES, EGJ metrics, and esophageal symptoms.

CONCLUSIONS

Some differences in UES metrics in the three different diseases were found. Further studies are needed to confirm the results of our pilot study and possible applications in clinical practice.

Tolerability and Feasibility of the Upper Esophageal Sphincter Assist Device in Preventing Acute and Chronic Allograft Rejection Among Lung Transplant Recipients

GOALS

We aimed to evaluate a novel upper esophageal sphincter (UES) assist device loaner program for the prevention of acute cellular rejection and chronic lung allograft dysfunction among lung transplant (LTx) recipients.

BACKGROUND

Laryngopharyngeal reflux can lead to chronic microaspiration and LTx rejection. The UES assist device applies external pressure at the level of UES to decrease reflux.

STUDY

We prospectively enrolled and issued UES assist devices to consecutive transplant patients referred for gastrointestinal motility testing from 2016 to 2020. Device tolerability was defined by successful utilization as a bridge to ambulatory pH monitoring and/or antireflux procedure, or as permanent therapy. Incidence of rejection was analyzed before, during, and after device implementation.

RESULTS

Twenty-six participants were issued devices (15 pathologic, 5 physiological, 6 unknown reflux status), none of whom developed acute rejection episodes or chronic lung allograft dysfunction while using the device. Thirteen adopted the device promptly after transplantation (mean 1.7 mo) and remained free of rejection episodes over a mean 24.7 months of follow-up. Among those with pathologic reflux, lag time to device adoption strongly correlated with the development of rejection ( r =0.8, P =0.0006). There was no such correlation among those with physiological reflux. Five developed acute rejection after device return.

CONCLUSIONS

The device was tolerated by a majority of LTx patients and appears feasible as a barrier measure in the prevention of rejection. Delayed treatment of laryngopharyngeal reflux may lead to early allograft failure; therefore, the UES assist device should be given important consideration in transplant protection.

A study of proximal esophageal baseline impedance in identifying and predicting laryngopharyngeal reflux

BACKGROUND AND AIM

Laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR) is caused by the reflux of gastric contents beyond the esophagus into the larynx and pharynx. However, upper esophageal sphincter (UES) motility and proximal esophagus reflux parameters are poorly studied. This study aims to explore the characteristics of UES motility and reflux parameter among LPR patients.

METHODS

Patients with laryngopharyngeal symptoms only (L), patients with laryngopharyngeal symptoms and typical esophageal symptoms (L + E), patients with typical esophageal symptoms only (E), and healthy controls (H) were retrospectively included. Physiological profiles were studied and compared among groups using both high-resolution manometry and pH-impedance monitoring, including UES basal pressure, residual pressure, relaxation duration time, recovery time, the time to nadir pressure, UES length, proximal contractile integral, and proximal mean nocturnal baseline impedance (MNBI). Patients' symptom outcomes were also analyzed.

RESULTS

A total of 242 patients were included. Proximal MNBI was significantly lower in patients with both laryngopharyngeal and esophageal symptoms (17 cm above low esophageal sphincter [LES]: L vs L + E vs E vs H = 3689.7 vs 2500.0 vs 3073.0 vs 3996.0; 15 cm above LES: L vs L + E vs E vs H = 3155.9 vs 2553.4 vs 3198.9 vs 2985.2; P < 0.001). Patients responded to proton pump inhibitor treatment also had lower proximal MNBI than those who did not (17 cm above LES: 1834.0 vs 3500.0; 15 cm above LES: 1946.5 vs 3432.6; P < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

Decreased proximal MNBI can not only identify LPR patients but also predict patients' symptom outcomes.

Effect of nasogastric tube on salivagram result in paediatric patients

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to analyse the potential effect of indwelling nasogastric tubes (NGTs) on the positive rate of pulmonary aspiration in the salivagram of paediatric patients.

METHODS

This retrospective study evaluated 290 children suffering from respiratory tract infection with clinical suspicion of pulmonary aspiration (104 cases with NGT and 186 cases without NGT). Among them, 216 had good past health, while 74 had history of oropharyngeal diseases or brain injuries. Tc-DTPA salivagrams were performed to determine whether the risk of pulmonary aspiration was different between patients with and without NGT.

RESULTS

The positive rates of aspiration in salivagram were 32.3% (60/186) and 29.8% (31/104) in the patients without and with NGT, respectively. The positive rates of the two groups had not statistically significant difference [risk ratio (RR) = 0.924; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.644-1.326; P = 0.666]. Subgroup analyses showed that the patients with good past health had the positive rates of 24.4% (19/78) with NGT and 25.4 % (35/138) without NGT. The two groups had no statistically significant difference (RR = 0.960; 95% CI: 0.592-1.559; P = 0.870). For the patients with underlying diseases, the positive rates were 46.2% (12/26) with NGT and 52.1% (25/48) without NGT. These two groups also demonstrated no statistically significant difference (RR = 0.886; 95% CI: 0.540-1.455; P = 0.626).

CONCLUSION

The positive rate of pulmonary aspiration was relatively high in patients with respiratory tract infection who have underlying diseases but NGT feeding did not affect salivagram accuracy.