JCBNournal of Clinical Biochemistry and Nutrition0912-00091880 5 86the Society for Free Radical Rese rch JapanKyot, Japanjcbn1-470.3 64/jcb.15-47Original ArticleSafety and efficacy of botulinum toxin injection therapy for esophageal achalasia in Japan

Copyright © 2015 JCBN2015This is an open access article distributed under the terms of theCreat ve Commons Attribution Licens, which permit unre-st icted use, distribution, and reproduction i any medium, p ovided the original work is prop rly cit d.Botulinum toxin i je tion is an accepted treatment modality f r esophageal achalasia in western countries. This pilot study aimed to clarify the effectiveness of botulinum toxin injection for esoph ageal achalasia in Japanese patients. We enrolled 10 patients diagnosed with esophageal achalasia between 2008 and 2014. A total of 100 U botulinum toxin A was divided into eight aliquots and injected around the esophagogastric junction. We compared the lower esophageal sphincter pressure before and 1 week after treatment. Scores of subjective symptoms for esophageal achalasia were assessed using a visual analog scale (VAS) before and after 1 week of followup of treatment. Barium passage was improved in barium esophagography and passage of contrast agent was also improved. Mean Eckardt score was reduced from 5.5 to 1.6 after treatment (p<0.001). By esophageal manometric study, mean lower esophageal sphincter pressure was reduced from 46.9 t