Achalasia cardia causing dysphagia in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Abstract

Sir, Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by progressive impairment of motor functions at the bulbar and spinal levels. The patient was additionally worked up for discovering any underlying cause of ALS using a fluoro-deoxy glucose positron emission tomographic scan (to evaluate for an occult malignancy), serum protein electrophoresis, and human immunodeficiency virus serological test. [...]the occurrence of dysphagia in ALS may not always imply bulbar spread of the disease and other possible causes of dysphagia in ALS such as achalasia should be considered.