[Lower esophageal sphincter pressure in patients with achalasia. Is high blood pressure frequent in these patients?]. / Variación de la presión del esfínter esofágico inferior (EEI) en pacientes con acalasia. El EEI hipertenso es un hallazgo frecuente?

OBJECTIVE: To describe variability of lower esophageal sphincter (LES) pressure in patients with diagnosis of achalasia based in esophageal manometry. METHODS: We included 29 patients with diagnosis of achalasia confirmed by water perfusion manometry performed between July 2000 and June 2002 at the Digestive and Liver Disease Center in Guadalajara, Jalisco. Three were excluded due to impossibility of evaluating LES. RESULTS: Esophageal aperistalsis was found in all patients. LES pressure was normal in 73%, low (hypotension) in 8%, and high (hypertension) in only 19% of patients. Relaxation of LES showed different responses ranging from absence to complete relaxation after degluttion. There was absence of relaxation after degluttion in all patients with LES hypertension and hypotension. CONCLUSION: Hypertension of LES in our cohort of patients with achalasia was seen only in 19%. Knowledgement of manometric variability is fundamental to avoid errors in achalasia diagnosis and further patient treatment.