Relationship Between Lower Esophageal Sphincter Pressure and Serum Gastrin Concentration in Zollinger-Ellison Syndrome and Other Clinical Settings

Abstract

The relationship between lower esophageal sphincter (LES) pressure and serum gastrin concentration was examined in 16 normal subjects and in groups of patients with the following diagnoses: 17 with Zollinger-Ellison syndrome (ZES), 18 with gastroesophageal reflux, and 28 patients with previous operations for peptic ulcer disease, including 9 with vagotomy and pyloroplasty (V and P); 12 with vagotomy, subtotal gastrectomy, and gastroduodenostomy (Billroth I); and 7 with vagotomy, subtotal gastrectomy, and gastrojejunostomy (Billroth II). Mean (±SEM) basal LES pressure in ZES patients, 15.4 ± 1.2 mm Hg, was not significantly different from the mean LES pressure in normal subjects, 14.3 ± 1.2 mm Hg. Mean fasting serum gastrin concentration, however, in ZES patients, 2,034 ± 834 pg/ml, was significantly greater than that in normal subjects, 48.1 ± 4.7 pg/ml (P