Oropharyngeal acid reflux and motility abnormalities of the proximal esophagus

Table 1 Patients’ main clinical characteristics

	OP pH-	OP pH+
No. of patients	18	24
Male/female (% of male)	8/10 (44%)	6/18 (25%)
Mean age (years ± SD)	52.52 ± 11.71	50.51 ± 14.73
Mean BMI (± SD)	24.50 ± 3.71	24.32 ± 3.61
Mean RSI score	18.00	17.80
No. of patients with typical esophageal symptoms	8/18 (44.44%)	9/24 (37.50%)

Normal (OP pH-) or pathological (OP pH+). OP: Oropharyngeal; RSI: Reflux symptom index; BMI: Body mass index.

Table 2 Esophageal sphincters and strength of contractions

	OP pH-	OP pH+	P value
UES length (cm)	4.2 (4.0-4.7)	4.3 (4.1-4.8)
UES resting pressure (mmHg)	126.0 (96.3-59.7)	71.0 (60.8-110.6)	< 0.05
PCI (cm•mmHg•s)	313.5 (243-489)	215.5 (103-290)	< 0.05
DCI (cm•mmHg•s)	2612 (1121-3195)	1540 (951-2921)
LES length (cm)	4.65 (3.8-5.1)	5.15 (4.1-5.5)
LES resting pressure (mmHg)	28.0 (19.8-34.1)	26.0 (20.8-30.8)
LES 4s-IRP (mmHg)	12.6 (8.0-17.4)	14.2 (11.4-19.1)

Data are presented as median and 95%CI. UES: Upper esophageal sphincter; PCI: Proximal contractile integral; DCI: Distal contractile integral; LES: Lower esophageal sphincter; IRP: Integrated relaxation pressure.

Table 3 Contraction patterns

	OP pH-	OP pH+	P value
No. of correct swallows	184	240
No. of peristaltic contractions (without breaks)	154/182 (84.61%)	144/235 (61.27%)	< 0.01
No. of failed contractions	2/184 (1.08%)	5/240 (2.08%)
No. of peristaltic contractions with small breaks	21/182 (11.95%)	68/235 (28.93%)	< 0.01
No. of peristaltic contractions with large breaks	7/182 (3.84%)	23/235 (9.78%)	< 0.01
No. of premature contractions	0	0
No. of rapid contractions	0	0

Normal (OP pH-) or pathological (OP pH+). OP: Oropharyngeal.