Akiyo Kawada

BACKGROUND AND AIM: The Frequency Scale for the Symptoms of Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (FSSG) is the standard questionnaire used in Japan for the diagnosis of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and assessment of the response to treatment. We modified the FSSG in order to assess dyspepsia symptoms, and evaluated the modified questionnaire. METHODS: We modified the FSSG by adding two questions on interdigestive and postprandial epigastric pain. We then assessed the modified FSSG with 100 new untreated symptomatic patients presenting to hospital and in 200 subjects undergoing health checks. Endoscopic assessment of the esophagogastric junction was performed according to the modified Los Angeles classification with addition of Grade N (normal appearance) and Grade M (minimal change). Endoscopic images were assessed by five experienced endoscopists blinded to the questionnaire results. RESULTS: The 100 new patients included 16 with erosive GERD (>Grade A), 12 with peptic ulcer, and two with gastric cancer. Among the 70 patients with no evidence of organic disease, the modified FSSG diagnosed functional dyspepsia (FD) in 41 and non-erosive gastric disease (NERD) in 29. A significant difference was seen in the dyspepsia score between patients with FD and NERD. Subjects with endoscopic GERD undergoing health checks had significantly higher scores for all symptoms, reflux symptoms, and dyspeptic symptoms on the modified FSSG. CONCLUSION: The modified FSSG can clearly distinguish FD from NERD, and is useful for the assessment of dyspeptic symptoms.

Digestive tract motility patterns are closely related to the pathophysiology of functional gastrointestinal diseases (FGID), and these patterns differ markedly between the interdigestive period and the postprandial period. The characteristic motility pattern in the interdigestive period is so-called interdigestive migrating contraction (IMC). IMCs have a housekeeping role in the intestinal tract, and could also be related to FGID. IMCs arising from the stomach are called gastrointestinal IMCs (GI-IMC), while IMCs arising from the duodenum without associated gastric contractions are called intestinal IMCs (I-IMC). It is thought that I-IMCs are abnormal in FGID. Transport of food residue to the duodenum via gastric emptying is one of the most important postprandial functions of the stomach. In patients with functional dyspepsia (FD), abnormal gastric emptying is a possible mechanism of gastric dysfunction. Accordingly, delayed gastric emptying has attracted attention, with prokinetic agents and herbal medicines often being administered in Japan to accelerate gastric emptying in patients who have anorexia associated with dyspepsia. Recently, we found that addition of monosodium L-glutamate (MSG) to a high-calorie liquid diet rich in casein promoted gastric emptying in healthy men. Therefore, another potential method of improving delayed gastric emptying could be activation of chemosensors that stimulate the autonomic nervous system of the gastrointestinal tract, suggesting a role for MSG in the management of delayed gastric emptying in patients with FD.

BACKGROUND: Patients with proton pump inhibitor (PPI)-resistant nonerosive reflux disease (NERD) include subgroups that have markedly different pathophysiology. This study aimed to clarify the pathophysiology of NERD by esophageal manometry with 24-hour esophageal impedance and pH monitoring. METHODS: Eighteen consecutive outpatients referred to our expert center for functional gastrointestinal motility with suspected PPI-resistant NERD were enrolled. Manometry was performed to detect esophageal motility disorders. Subsequently, 24-hour esophageal impedance and pH monitoring was done while patients were on PPI therapy. RESULTS: Manometry revealed 1 case of achalasia, 1 case of nutcracker esophagus and 3 cases of diffuse esophageal spasm. Three patients had ineffective esophageal motility, with impedance and pH monitoring being performed in 2 of them. Esophageal acid exposure (%time pH <4) was normal in both, but the symptom index (SI) was positive for nonacidic reflux in 1 patient. One of the 10 patients with normal esophageal motility had abnormal esophageal acid exposure. The SI was positive for weakly acidic and nonacidic reflux in 3 of the remaining 9 patients with normal esophageal acid exposure. Five of the other 6 patients seemed to have functional heartburn. CONCLUSION: A substantial percentage (28%) of patients with suspected PPI-resistant NERD had primary esophageal motility disorders. Both nonacidic reflux and weakly acidic reflux are important contributors to the symptoms of patients with PPI-resistant NERD. Esophageal manometry is required to exclude motility disorders, while 24-hour esophageal impedance and pH monitoring is invaluable for assessing symptom-reflux associations and the indications for fundoplication in patients with suspected PPI-resistant NERD.

Osamu Kawamura, Yukie Kohata, Noriyuki Kawami, Hiroshi Iida, Akiyo Kawada, Hiroko Hosaka, Yasuyuki Shimoyama, Shiko Kuribayashi, Yasuhiro Fujiwara, Katsuhiko Iwakiri, Masahiko Inamori, Motoyasu Kusano, and Micho Hongo. J Neurogastroenterol Motil 2016;22:620-9. https://doi.org/10.5056/jnm15195