Respiratory Events in Infants Presenting with Apparent Life Threatening Events: Is There an Explanation from Esophageal Motility?

In infants with ALTE, prolonged SREs are associated with ineffective esophageal motility characterized by frequent primary peristalsis and significant propagation failure, thus suggestive of dysfunctional regulation of swallow-respiratory junction interactions. Hence, treatment should not target gastroesophageal reflux, but rather the proximal aerodigestive tract.