Long-term clinical and manometric follow-up of patients with nonspecific esophageal motor disorders.

In the manometric evaluation of patients complaining of chest pain, a nonspecific esophageal motor disorder is commonly identified. Yet, the clinical characteristics of these patients and stability of the manometric pattern with time have not been previously described. This study reports a 3.2-yr clinical and manometric follow-up of 23 patients with nonspecific esophageal motor disorder. These subjects were most commonly middle-aged women with long-standing, persistent, and debilitating clinical symptoms. Ninety-six percent (22/23) of our patients complained of chest pain; 65% (15/23) had dysphagia. In addition, 15 (65%) had evidence of reflux during ambulatory pH studies. Symptoms caused such concern that the patients frequently sought medical assistance to exclude serious diseases. Although the symptoms tended to persist, the motility patterns changed in some patients. Follow-up manometric studies were normal in 29%, and nonspecific esophageal motor disorder persisted in 57% of the patients. In three patients (14%), the pattern evolved into diffuse esophageal spasm. When symptoms were compared with these changes in follow-up manometric patterns, the correlation was poor. This observation suggests that additional mechanism(s) other than disturbed esophageal motility may be responsible for the symptoms seen in these individuals.