BACKGROUND: Jackhammer esophagus is a hypercontractile esophageal disorder 
recently brought to light with the advent of high resolution manometry (HRM). As 
little is known about its clinical presentation, the aim of this study was to 
identify the clinical characteristics associated with this new gastrointestinal 
motility disorder.
METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted on patients visiting the CHUM's 
Gastro-Intestinal Motility Center from January 2015 to December 2017. The HRM 
diagnoses were collated in a database along with age and sex of every 
individual. The latest Chicago classification (version 3.0) was used. Among all 
the patients subjected to HRM, those diagnosed with Jackhammer esophagus were 
included in the study. Patient charts were reviewed to collect relevant 
demographic and clinical data.
KEY RESULTS: A total of 36 patients with Jackhammer esophagus were included (62 
± 13 years age, 89% females). Their main symptoms were dysphagia (72%), pyrosis 
(42%), retrosternal chest pain (36%), and epigastralgia (33%). Other manometric 
findings were hypertonia (22%) and/or inadequate relaxation (19%) of the lower 
esophageal sphincter. Among the 26 patients who had esogastroduodenoscopy, 
hiatal hernia was seen in 3 patients. Pathological gastroesophageal reflux was 
found in 4 of the 10 patients investigated by pH-monitoring.
CONCLUSIONS AND INFERENCES: Jackhammer esophagus represents 3% of the HRM 
diagnoses in this study, with a significant female preponderance. In more than 
two-thirds of cases, the clinical presentation of Jackhammer esophagus is 
dysphagia.