Abstract
Objectives
This study aimed to demonstrate the feasibility of a novel high-resolution manometry (HRM) system, and to establish normal values of swallowing pressures along the velopharynx and upper esophagus.
Methods
33 asymptomatic adult Japanese controls were studied. A solid-state HRM assembly with 36 circumferential sensors spaced 1 cm apart was positioned to record pressures during swallowing from the velopharynx to the upper esophagus. The maximum values of the swallowing (dry and 5 ml of water) pressures at velo, meso-hypopharynx, and at the upper esophageal sphincter (UES) were measured. The resting UES pressure, the length of the part in the cervical esophagus showing the resting UES pressure, and the distance from the nostril to the above-mentioned points of pressure were also measured.
Results
The maximum value of dry and water swallowing pressures at the velopharynx, meso-hypopharynx and UES, and the distances from the nasal vestibulum to each point were 132.3±61.3 (mmHg, mean ± standard deviation), and 146.5±77.5, 171.6±52.0, and 176.3±74.4, 163.5±70.6, and 239.3±80.1, and 9.8±1.2 (cm), and 9.8±1.3, 13.6±1.6, and 13.7±1.5, 17.0±1.9 and 17.1±1.6, respectively. The maximum value of the resting USE pressure, the length of the part in the cervical esophagus showing the resting USE pressure, and the distance from the nostril to the mid-point of the length of the resting UES pressure were 66.6±28.1 mmHg, 3.8±0.7 cm, and 18.2±1.6 cm, respectively.
Conclusions
The present study provides anatomical and physiological information about normal swallowing along the velopharynx and upper esophagus, which will be an aid to future clinical and investigative studies.
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