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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2008 Mar 31.
Published in final edited form as: Gastroenterology. 2008 Jan;134(1):16–18. doi: 10.1053/j.gastro.2007.11.031

Figure 1.

Figure 1

Typical pressure topography of a swallow spanning the entire esophagus from the pharynx (locations 0-2 cm) to stomach (locations 32-35 cm) of a normal subject with normal peristalsis and normal EGJ relaxation. Note that the transition zone demarcating the end of the proximal esophageal segment (striated muscle) and the beginning of the distal esophageal segment (smooth muscle) is readily identified as the pressure minimum between the sphincters. The onset of the deglutitive relaxation window is defined by the onset of upper sphincter relaxation while the offset is 10 s later. The spatial domain within which EGJ relaxation spans at least 6 cm, depending on the extent of esophageal shortening after the swallow.