Aperistalsis of the Esophagus in Patients with Connective-Tissue Disorders and Raynaud's Phenomenon

Abstract

EXTENSIVE clinical data have been accumulated during recent years that support the view that scleroderma is a systemic disease. In addition to cutaneous involvement, which remains the cardinal diagnostic feature, widespread visceral lesions are found in the majority of patients with this disorder.Involvement of the gastrointestinal tract is especially common. Since Ehrmann's1 initial observation of dysphagia in a patient with scleroderma, much attention has been directed toward defining the character of the esophageal lesion. Radiographic studies2 , 3 and measurements of intraluminal pressures4 5 6 have shown the primary defect of the So-Called "sclerodermatous" esophagus to be the loss of peristalsis. Despite the . . .