Disturbed Gastric Motor Activity in Patients with Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection

Background: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is accompanied by a wide spectrum of disorders that affect the central and peripheral nervous system. Damage to the peripheral and central nervous system, including its autnnomic division, may become manifest at any stage of the disease. Methods: Twenty HIV-positive patients with abdominal complaints like dyspepsia, dysphagia, vomiting, and nausea underwent several function tests to determine oesophagcal motility, gastric motor and electric activity, and gastric emptying rate. The CDC (Center for Disease Control) classification was used to determine the stage of the disease, which varied from B2 to C3. Before gastric motility examinations all patients underwent endoscopy of the upper gastrointestinal (GI) tract, and none of them showed any morphologic changes of the stomach or oesophagus. Biopsy specimens taken during upper GI endoscopy did not show any histologic alterations of the gastric or oesophageal mucosa. Results: Manometry of the antrum sho...