Effect of left atrial size on the oesophageal transit of capsules

Successful treatment of drug-induced esophageal ulcer in a patient with chronic heart failure: A case report

RATIONALE

Although esophageal compression due to cardiomegaly may be a risk factor of drug-induced esophageal injuries (DIEIs), the causal relationship between the two conditions has not been fully demonstrated.

PATIENT CONCERNS

We present a case of a drug-induced esophageal ulcer caused by left atrial enlargement in a 44-year-old woman with end-stage hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy showed a deep, circumferential ulcer in the middle thoracic esophagus. CT revealed that the esophagus was compressed between the enlarged left atrium (LA) and the vertebral body. In the upper gastrointestinal series, retention of contrast media was observed in the esophagus near the LA.

DIAGNOSIS

The ulcer was a result of potassium chloride retention in the esophagus, which was compressed by the enlarged LA.

INTERVENTION

After cessation of potassium chloride administration for 2 months, the ulcer healed and a stricture developed. Two years after the ulcer development, the patient underwent heart transplantation, and subsequent endoscopic balloon dilation was performed for the esophageal stricture.

OUTCOMES

The patient's oral intake recovered completely without any ulcer recurrence.

LESSONS

The case demonstrated that esophageal compression by the enlarged LA caused a drug-induced esophageal ulcer. Preventive care and treatment measures for DIEIs, including an anatomical approach, should be considered for patients with LA enlargement.

Oesophageal transport of solid dosage forms depends on body position, swallowing volume and pharyngeal propulsion velocity

Knowledge about transit of solid dosage forms (SDF) in the gastrointestinal tract is incomplete. Detection of magnetically marked capsules (MMC) via superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) allows monitoring of oesophageal transport of SDF with high tempospatial resolution. The aim of the study was to investigate the influence of body position, volume at swallowing, and oesophageal motility on orogastric transport of SDF. In 360 measurements we determined tempospatial characteristics of orogastric transit of SDFs by a SQUID device in six volunteers. They swallowed MMCs with various amounts of water in upright and supine position with and without simultaneous oesophageal manometry. Orogastric transit time, oesophageal transport velocity and rate of oesophageal retention of SDF depend on swallowing volume and body position at all experimental conditions. At 50 mL water bolus and in upright position, the retention rate depends on the pharyngeal propulsion velocity, and the transport velocity of MMCs in the oesophageal body are faster than the propulsive oesophageal contractions. Body position, swallowing volume and pharyngeal propulsion velocity markedly influence the oesophageal transport of SDF. They should be taken in upright body position with at least 50 mL of water to minimize entrapment in the oesophagus.

Autonomic nerve dysfunction in patients with bolus-specific esophageal dysmotility

The pathogenetic mechanisms causing esophageal dysmotility is not well understood. We examined 13 patients with solid bolus dysphagia in a radiologic barium study including the swallowing of a 14-mm tablet. In all 13 patients the tablet was caught in the proximal or midesophagus. In 8 patients, the entrapment was associated with symptoms (Group 1) whereas in 5 patients (Group 2), no symptoms were reported. All 13 patients together with a control group of 56 healthy, nondysphagic subjects were tested for autonomic nerve function. Autonomic nerve function tests included registration of electrocardiographic R-R interval variation during deep breathing test (E/I ratio), a test of parasympathetic, vagal, nerve function. The results showed that the E/I ratio was significantly lower in patients with symptoms of bolus-specific esophageal dysmotility (-2,19 [1.76]) (median [interquartile range]) compared with patients without symptoms (0.05 [2, 87], p = 0.0192) and controls (-0.25 [1.26], p = 0.0009). In conclusion, symptomatic bolus-specific esophageal dysmotility is associated with vagal nerve dysfunction.

Endoscopic, radiographic, and manometric findings associated with cardiovascular dysphagia

The roentgenographic, echocardiographic, endoscopic, and manometric findings were studied in five consecutive patients with cardiovascular dysphagia, including four with a dilated left atrium and one with an anomalous left subclavian artery. Common and different manometric findings were found in the two types of cardiovascular dysphagia. The major manometric abnormality in all cases was an elevated baseline pressure, with superimposed large rhythmic pressure waves occurring at the same frequency as the electrocardiogram in the mid-esophagus. This manometric abnormality, produced by pulsatile cardiovascular compression, provides direct evidence that cardiovascular dysphagia is caused by esophageal luminal obstruction from cardiovascular compression. Indirect evidence supporting this mechanism includes smooth extrinsic compression and hang-up of ingested barium in the mid-esophagus on esophagogram and transmitted mural pulsations and a compressed lumen in the mid-esophagus at panendoscopy. Two of the five patients had deranged esophageal peristalsis within the high-pressure zone, which also contributed to the dysphagia. Autopsy in one patient with deranged peristalsis revealed a band of ischemic esophageal mucosa in the zone compressed by the dilated left atrium. A novel manometric maneuver might distinguish dysphagia due to an anomalous left subclavian artery from dysphagia due to a dilated left atrium. Left arm elevation during manometry in the single patient with the anomalous artery significantly increased the mean mid-esophageal baseline pressure by 92% (N = 10 trials), and mean pressure wave amplitude by 93% (N = 10 trials, P < 0.002 for each, nonparametric signed rank test). Left arm elevation in this patient also increased the observed luminal obstruction during endoscopy. These manometric and endoscopic findings may be explained by increased arterial compression of the esophagus produced by arterial stretch and anterior displacement with arm elevation.

Foreign body entrapment in the esophagus of healthy subjects--a manometric and scintigraphic study

Foreign body entrapment and mucosal injury caused by oral medications are increasingly reported to occur in the upper esophagus in apparently normal subjects. We performed esophageal manometry in 40 normal volunteers to determine whether a unique motility pattern in the upper third of the esophagus predisposes to entrapment of foreign bodies at this site; 18 normal volunteers also had transit scintigraphy of a gelatin capsule filled with a radionuclide. The esophageal body was divided into five consecutive segments starting proximally, with each segment corresponding to 20% of the total length. Amplitude, slope, and velocity of the esophageal contraction were markedly decreased in the second segment compared with the other segments. Entrapment and dissolution of a gelatin capsule occurred in 39% of volunteers in the proximal esophagus correlating to the second segment, i.e., the segment with the lowest amplitude, slope, and velocity of esophageal contractions. The observation that wet swallows have greater amplitudes (P less than 0.01) and steeper slopes (P less than 0.05) than dry swallows explains why the occurrence of pill entrapment was reduced when taken with sufficient water. However, even with a water chaser of 120 mL, pill entrapment occurred at the second segment of the esophagus in 1 of 18 volunteers. The observed motility pattern in the proximal esophagus provides a better explanation for the entrapment of foreign bodies at this site than compression of the esophagus by the left main stem bronchus, aortic arch, or left atrium as suggested by other investigators.

The influence of posture on the pharmacokinetics of orally administered nifedipine

1. Nifedipine (20 mg as capsules) and soluble paracetamol (1 g) were co-administered to eight healthy young volunteers on three separate occasions, following which in random order they stood, lay on their left side or lay on their right side for 4 h. 2. The time to maximum plasma concentration of paracetamol was significantly lower when standing or lying on the right side compared with recumbent left, indicating more rapid gastric emptying. 3. The times to maximum plasma concentrations of nifedipine and its metabolite produced at first pass were reduced when standing or lying on the right side. These postures were associated with significantly higher peak plasma concentrations and AUC values of nifedipine but not of its nitropyridine metabolite. 4. The increase in heart rate following nifedipine administration was significantly greater when lying on the right side compared with the left. 5. The data are consistent with transient saturation of first pass metabolism of nifedipine with postures which favour rapid gastric emptying. The results demonstrate the importance of defining the precise posture in studies in which pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic measurements are made on drugs which are absorbed rapidly and are subject to presystemic elimination.

Pill-induced esophageal strictures: clinical features and risk factors for development

Clinical data from five subjects with pill-induced esophageal strictures and from the English-language literature on pill-induced esophageal damage were reviewed to determine risk factors for stricture development and to characterize this complication. Including our five cases, 195 patients with pill-induced damage and 39 patients with pill-induced strictures have been reported to date. Seventy-eight percent of the strictures were located in the proximal or mid-esophagus. Potassium chloride or quinidine preparations were incriminated in 60% of cases and were more likely to produce stricture than other medications commonly associated with esophageal damage (e.g., tetracycline). Older age, male gender, left atrial enlargement, ingestion of sustained-release formulations, and prior esophageal structural abnormality were all more commonly present in the subset with strictures (p less than 0.05 for each), even after appropriately controlling for medication. A logistic regression analysis revealed that older age and ingestion of sustained-release formulations were the most significant independent factors associated with stricture development (p less than 0.0001 for each). These findings indicate that stricture formation from pill-induced esophageal damage is dependent upon host-related factors as well as the caustic nature of the pill.

Abnormal oesophageal function in patients with non-toxic goiter or enlarged left atrium, demonstrated by radionuclide transit measurements

In 10 patients with enlarged atrium and in 29 patients with goiters and neck discomfort dynamic oesophageal scintigraphy was performed. The passage of water and capsules, containing 99mTc-pertechnetate, was studied with the patients in the supine and in the sitting positions. As a reference group we examined 35 healthy, age-matched volunteers. Mean transit time (MTT) was calculated, residual activity was expressed as a percentage of maximum activity, and the number of spikes in the curves was defined by visual analysis. Both in patients with enlarged left atrium and in those with large goiters the studies showed significantly prolonged MTT, increased residual activity, and a higher frequency of spikes, compared with healthy volunteers and with patients with small goiters. There was no relationship between symptoms and abnormal scintigraphic results. The passage of capsules was impaired only in cardiac patients. It is concluded that abnormal oesophageal function is often present in patients with enlarged left atrium and in patients with large, but not with small, goiters. Inhibition of oesophageal transit appears to be dependent on mechanical compression, but the nature of oesophageal impairment may vary with the level of compression. The frequent complaints of neck sensations in patients with goiters are probably not of oesophageal origin.

The effect of size and shape of tablets on their esophageal transit

The esophageal transit times of small- and medium-sized barium sulfate tablets were measured using x-ray fluoroscopy in 50 patients after swallowing while in both erect and supine positions with a 15-mL drink, and the esophageal transit times of large round and oval barium sulfate tablets were similarly measured in 25 patients. When tablets were swallowed by subjects who were standing, no difference was found between the transit times of small and medium tablets, but large oval tablets had significantly shorter times than did large round tablets (P less than .04). The transit times of both small and medium tablets were significantly shorter than those of oval (P less than .05) and large round tablets (P less than .02). Retention of large oval and round tablets in the esophagus occurred in 20% of patients after swallowing while in the standing position. No medium-sized tablet was retained, but in 4% of patients, a small tablet remained in the esophagus. Tablets that were retained in the esophagus remained there for five minutes, when they were washed down by a further drink. When tablets were swallowed in the lying position, no significant differences in transit times were found between any of the four tablets. Retention of tablets within the esophagus occurred in over 60% of patients with all four tablets after ingestion while in the supine position. Tablets stuck mainly in the lower esophagus above the lower esophageal sphincter, but after swallowing in the standing position, a significant proportion (33% [P less than .01]) stuck in the upper esophagus.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Oesophageal function tests: are they of value?

Oesophageal function was assessed in 15 unselected control patients, eight patients with systemic sclerosis, 10 diabetics with autonomic neuropathy and 24 diabetic controls, by water bolus transit time derived from oesophageal scintigraphy, barium swallow and by timing the transit of a barium sulphate-filled capsule through the oesophagus. Water transit times and capsule transit times were significantly prolonged in patients with systemic sclerosis and diabetics with autonomic neuropathy, compared with controls. Barium swallow was abnormal in seven of eight patients with systemic sclerosis, whereas water transit time was abnormal in all eight and capsule transit time was abnormal in six of seven. Nine of 10 patients with diabetic autonomic neuropathy had abnormal barium swallows and water transit times but all 10 had prolonged capsule transit times. Eleven of 24 diabetic controls had abnormal barium swallows and water transit times, but 21 had abnormally prolonged capsule transit times. Six of 15 controls had abnormal barium swallows, four had abnormal water transit times and 12 had abnormal capsule transit times. In conclusion, water and capsule transit times are sensitive tests of oesophageal function and are as effective as barium swallow in detecting oesophageal motility disorders associated with systemic sclerosis and diabetic autonomic neuropathy. Capsule transit time is cheaper, involves a smaller radiation exposure than oesophageal scintigraphy and may be more sensitive.

The effect of formulation on oesophageal transit

The oesophageal transit of barium sulphate in small or large, heavy or light capsules or film coated and plain oval tablets was measured during fluoroscopy in five separate studies involving 175 subjects. Transit of large, but not small capsules was significantly faster than plain oval tablets in both erect and supine subjects (P less than 0.05). Heavy large capsules entered the stomach in all subjects within 20 s, whereas in all other studies some subjects retained dosage forms in the oesophagus for over 5 min. The transit of heavy capsules was significantly faster than light capsules in erect subjects (P less than 0.0005). Light capsules tended to have faster transit times than heavy capsules in the supine position. Film coating significantly enhanced oval tablet transit in erect (P less than 0.00003) and supine subjects (P less than 0.05). When large capsules of equal weight but less dense than film coated oval tablets were directly compared, the tablet transit was significantly superior in the erect subjects (P less than 0.0001). In supine subjects the transit of the light capsule was significantly faster (P less than 0.005). It is concluded that different drug formulations can have significant effects on oesophageal transit, and hence on the development of drug induced oesophageal ulceration.