{
  "abstract": "Chest discomfort in patients with autoimmune connective tissue disease often prompts extensive cardiopulmonary evaluation, yet esophageal motility disorders remain an underrecognized etiology.\n\nIn this report, we present a case of a 34-year-old woman with Raynaud's phenomenon, undifferentiated inflammatory arthritis (ANA- and Scl-70-positive), gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), and small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) who developed progressive dyspnea and chest tightness following an influenza A infection. Despite an unremarkable broad initial workup that included computed tomography (CT) pulmonary angiography, echocardiography, and pulmonary function testing, high-resolution esophageal manometry with impedance, along with supplemental testing (endoluminal functional lumen imaging probe (EndoFLIP) and barium esophagram), ultimately supported a diagnosis of jackhammer esophagus (JE), a rare hypercontractile esophageal motility disorder.\n\nThis case highlights JE as a rare and underrecognized cause of chest symptoms that should be considered when cardiopulmonary evaluation is unrevealing, particularly in patients with underlying autoimmune connective tissue disease, positive SSc serological markers, and a history of gastrointestinal disease.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Internal Medicine, Ronald Reagan UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles) Medical Center, Los Angeles, USA",
    "Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles), Los Angeles, USA",
    "Internal Medicine, UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles) Health, Los Angeles, USA",
    "Internal Medicine, UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles) Santa Monica Medical Center, Santa Monica, USA"
  ],
  "article_type": "case report",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 4,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Giuliana Perini Villanueva"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Alex Kokaly"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Nisha Sunku"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Christina W Chung"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/9e38qxebw2xck.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.7759/cureus.117601",
  "fulltext_url": "https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13742295/",
  "id": "9e38qxebw2xck",
  "issns": [
    "2168-8184"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.117601",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "heading",
      "Gastroenterology"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "Internal Medicine"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "Rheumatology"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "2715|Gastroesophageal reflux and treatments"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7220838298",
  "pdf_url": "https://www.cureus.com/articles/524089-jackhammer-esophagus-presenting-as-chest-discomfort-and-dyspnea-in-a-patient-with-undifferentiated-inflammatory-arthritis-and-a-positive-scl-70-antibody-test.pdf",
  "pmcid": "PMC13742295",
  "pmid": "42997741",
  "published": "2026-10-07",
  "publisher": "Cureus Inc.",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/9e38qxebw2xck.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-10T12:23:09Z",
      "native_id": "PMC13742295",
      "source": "pmc",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.117601"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "openalex:2715|Gastroesophageal reflux and treatments",
      "subfield": "general"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Jackhammer Esophagus Presenting as Chest Discomfort and Dyspnea in a Patient With Undifferentiated Inflammatory Arthritis and a Positive Scl-70 Antibody Test",
  "title_text": "Jackhammer Esophagus Presenting as Chest Discomfort and Dyspnea in a Patient With Undifferentiated Inflammatory Arthritis and a Positive Scl-70 Antibody Test",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-10T12:23:09Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/9e38qxebw2xck",
  "venue": "Cureus",
  "versions": []
}