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S.V.

JAMA. 1971;217(8):1098.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

Impaired performance of the lower esophageal sphincter, whether presenting as achalasia with sphincter hypertension and incomplete relaxation on swallowing, or as sphincter incompetence, with heartburn, is viewed often as primarily a disorder of muscle mechanics to be explored and explained in terms of pressures and resistances. Currently, however, much attention is being directed to investigating the role of hormones, particularly gastrin in sphincter dysfunction.

Using a perfused open-tipped system, Cohen and Hughes¹ measured low esophageal sphincter pressures in 20 untreated patients with achalasia and in 20 normal subjects. As expected, the pressure in the former group was higher (mean 50.5 mm Hg) than in the latter (mean 19.4). Suppression of gastrin release by acidification of the antrum with hydrochloric acid reduced the pressure in both groups, but less markedly in the normal subjects than in patients with achalasia, thus suggesting that these patients had more gastrin or were more sensitive . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

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