Repetitive antegrade contraction: a novel response to sustained esophageal distension is modulated by cholinergic influence

Abstract

Repetitive antegrade contraction, a unique, patterned, motor response to sustained esophageal distension, is observed on functional luminal imaging probe panometry in healthy controls and patients with normal esophageal motility; however, the mechanisms related to this response are unclear. Among healthy, asymptomatic volunteers, cholinergic inhibition with atropine reduced the vigor and triggering of distension-induced esophageal contractility, although the rate at which contractions occurred in a repetitive antegrade contraction pattern was unchanged by atropine.