View clinical trials related to Esophageal Achalasia.
Filter by:Achalasia is an esophageal motility disorder, which leads to clinical symptoms such as dysphagia, regurgitation, chest pain and consecutive weight loss. Although conventional treatment such as laparoscopic Heller myotomy (LHM) and balloon dilatation (BD) can provide sufficient symptom relief in many patients, both interventions have their individual drawbacks. Additionally, treatment after failed LHM or BD can be challenging and in few might even lead to esophagectomy. Per oral endoscopic myotomy (POEM) and prolonged dilatation (PRD) are two novel endoscopically performed therapeutic options for achalasia and other esophageal motility disorders. Both not only appear to provide good results, when performed as initial treatment but also might be an excellent option after e.g failed LHM. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the long-term efficacy of four different treatment options, such as POEM, PRD with stent-fixation, PD and conventional LHM for achalasia in an individualized treatment setting.
Per-oral endoscopic myotomy (POEM) is an incisionless procedure used to treat esophageal achalasia, performed by GI endoscopist without cutting any surface of the human body. The main constituent of the procedure is the myotomy part, through which the endoscopist cuts the muscle fibers in the submucosa. Since this procedure is completely new to the area of treatment of achalasia, it is unknown whether a posterior or an anterior myotomy is better in relieving the symptoms. Thenceforth, this study aims at randomizing patients with achalasia presenting for POEM to getting either the posterior or the anterior myotomy. Patients will be followed up for symptoms and complications; data will be extracted and the appropriate analysis will be employed to determine if there is any difference of outcome between the two techniques of myotomy.
This study is being done to assess the esophageal muscle (swallowing tube) in patients with and without achalasia to further understand and help direct the treatment for patients with achalasia.
This research is being done to see if a study drug called amyl nitrite can be helpful with diagnosing different disorders affecting the lower esophageal sphincter in patients with dysphagia (difficulty swallowing foods) undergoing high resolution esophageal manometry (HRM). Dysphagia may be one of the symptoms of a condition known as idiopathic achalasia. Achalasia is a disorder of the esophagus, the tube that carries food from the mouth to the stomach. This affects the ability of the esophagus to move food toward the stomach. Pseudoachalasia is a secondary form of achalasia, which has very similar symptoms but is caused by different reasons. Because the treatments for achalasia and pseudoachalasia are different, it is important to correctly diagnose each condition. At this time, there is no way to distinguish the two with the current tests used at Johns Hopkins. Amyl nitrite relaxes vascular smooth muscle and has been studied previously as a potential means to separate achalasia from pseudoachalasia. Amyl nitrite is approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of cardiac angina. It is not approved for use in motility testing and its use in this study is considered investigational. Investigators hope that the results from the proposed study could have significant clinical implications for patient management by helping doctors distinguish between achalasia and pseudoachalasia and allow them to choose appropriate treatment. Patients with dysphagia (difficulty swallowing foods) undergoing routinely scheduled high resolution esophageal manometry (HRM) may join this study.
This study evaluates the efficacy and safety of the Per-Oral Endoscopic Myotomy (POEM) technique for lower esophageal sphincter myotomy in patients suffering from spastic esophageal disorders such as achalasia at a Canadian institution. The investigators hypothesize that POEM is a safe and effective technique for the surgical management of such disorders at our institution.
The investigators wish to monitor the adoption of a new, incisionless approach to performing a Heller myotomy for the surgical treatment of achalasia. The method, the Peroral Endoscopic Myotomy (POEM), will provide less-invasive treatment for esophageal achalasia, ideally providing similar if not better outcomes (safety and efficacy) as the Heller myotomy. The investigators hope to enroll 10 patients with a clinical diagnosis of achalasia who meet inclusion criteria. The POEM procedure has been done in many hospitals without any research associated with it. Dr. Ginsberg, Dr. Chandrasekhara and Dr. Kochman will perform the procedures after being trained. Dr. Ginsberg has personally witnessed the performance of 10 POEM procedures and has performed in a swine model. The PI is credentialed to initiate POEM at HUP with the first case to be proctored by an experienced operator. The PI will then proctor the other adopters. The investigators would like to evaluate the safety of it and the effectiveness of it. The investigators will use their symptom scores and radiology tests pre- and post-POEM to evaluate effectiveness.
Treatment options for achalasia include endoscopic dilations and surgical myotomy. Recently the POEM (Per oral endoscopic myotoymy) technique has been described. Patients undergo myotomy under endoscopic control. It has advantage over endoscopic dilation since myotomy is performed, and has advantage over surgery because it is performed endoscopically, thus is less invasive. One potential disadvantage in respect to surgery may be that it may determine higher rates of post-operative reflux. The purpose of this study is to prospectively assess the feasibility of PEOM in our Center with the new hybrid knife, and clinical results at 1, 3 and 12 months. This is a prospective, phase II study. Ten patients (age 18-75 years old) with diagnosis of achalasia, without megaesophagus or colonic esophagus, will be included for the POEM procedure. This study will last about 2 years. The aim is the feasibility, security and success rate of POEM for achalasia. Patients will be followed for at least one year.
Prospective Multicenter registry study to assess the safety and efficacy of clinically indicated peroral endoscopic myotomy (POEM) for the treatment of Achalasia
Achalasia is a disorder benign esophageal motor, which is characterized by failure to relax the lower esophageal sphincter ( LES) in response to swallowing associated with lack of peristalsis of the esophageal body. Its most common clinical presentation is dysphagia , and occasionally chest pain , regurgitation , aspiration pneumonia and weight loss , resulting in a large impact on daily activities and quality of life of affected individuals . There is currently considered curative treatment for achalasia , dysphagia relief being the primary therapeutic target and is forced to relax the LES by endoscopy or surgery. Thus , the most commonly used endoscopic treatments are forced dilatation of the cardia and botulinum toxin. Laparoscopic Heller myotomy with antireflux procedure with therapy is considered "gold standard " because of excellent results and minimal invasiveness. Currently , pneumatic dilation and surgical treatment with the Heller myotomy with fundoplication are strongly associated with the best therapeutic options available . In recent years, the possibility of using endoluminal access in the treatment of achalasia patients through the technique originally described as Natural orifices Translumenal Endoscopic Surgery ( NOTES) and continuing advances in the submucosal dissection has enabled the concomitant development of a new approach described as perioral endoscopic myotomy . In 2007, Pasricha et al , described the feasibility of endoscopic esophageal myotomy through a submucosal tunnel initially in an animal model . The first performance of this procedure in humans was described by Inoue et al , in 2010 , introducing the concept of transluminal endoscopic surgery through natural orifices , with the objective of minimizing the trauma and all the stress resulting from open surgical procedure . These authors call the procedure as POEM ( Per Oral Endoscopic myotomy ) .
Patients with newly diagnosed achalasia have been submitted to either treatment with pneumatic dilatation or surgical myotomy. Minimal follow up five years.