Esophageal Achalasia in Parkinson’s Disease: Diagnosis and Management of a Rare Case

Authors

Alexandros Ioannou, Gastroenterology Department, Alexandra General Hospital, Athens, Greece;Follow
Francesco Torresan, Gastroenterology Unit, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.

Abstract

Autonomic dysfunction in Parkinson’s disease involving the gastrointestinal track due to the presence of inclusions of a-synuclein in the vagus nerve and in the Meissner and Auerbach plexus of the enteric nervus system. Esophageal achalasia characterized by a degenerative loss of the inhibitory neurons in the myenteric plexus that causes a failure of the lower esophageal sphincter to relax leading to dysphagia, regurgitation, retrosternal pain and weight loss. We report a case of a Parkinson disease patient presented to our department due to upper gastrointestinal symptoms, diagnosed with esophageal achalasia by high resolution esophageal manometry and successfully treated with pneumatic dilatation. Keywords: esophageal achalasia, Parkinson disease, high resolution manometry

Recommended Citation

Ioannou, Alexandros and Torresan, Francesco (2024) "Esophageal Achalasia in Parkinson’s Disease: Diagnosis and Management of a Rare Case," Translational Medicine @ UniSa: Vol. 26 : Iss. 1 , Article 6.
Available at: https://doi.org/10.37825/2239-9747.1052

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