J Korean Rheum Assoc.  2002 Dec;9(4):341-346.

The Nutcracker Esophagus in a Patient with Dermatomyositis

• In BH
• Park MC
• Choi SH
• Park YB
• Lee SK

Abstract

In dermatomyositis, involvement of the skeletal muscles of upper esophagus has been reported in many literatures. However, a number of published reports have suggested that motility disturbances of distal esophagus may also be a cause of dysphagia in dermatomyositis and dysphagia in these cases are mainly caused by crico-pharyngeal obstruction or hypomotility of esophagus. The nutcracker esophagus is the one of common esophageal hypermotility disorders causing dysphagia which is characterized manometrically by high pressure in distal esophagus. Recently, we experienced a patient with dermatomyositis who had complained of dysphagia and was diagnosed as having nutcracker esophagus by mannometry. The association of nutcracker esophagus and dermatomyositis has not been reported in the literature. Moreover, the mechanism of nutcracker esophagus differs with that of esophageal involvement in dermatomyositis. Thereby, we report a patient with dermatomyositis who had nutcracker esophagus in the course of her disease.

Keyword

Dermatomyositis; Nutcracker esophagus; Dysphagia; Manometry

MeSH Terms

Deglutition Disorders
Dermatomyositis*
Esophageal Motility Disorders*
Esophagus
Glycogen Storage Disease Type VI
Humans
Manometry
Muscle, Skeletal