achalasian.
/ˌeɪkəˈleɪzɪə/, /əkəˈleɪzɪə/, U.S. /ˌeɪkəˈleɪʒ(i)ə/ Medicine.
Inability of the smooth muscle of a sphincter, esp. that of the distal oesophagus, to relax normally; an instance of this.
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myotonia1886
achalasia1914
1914 A. F. Hertz in Q. Jrnl. Med. 8 300 Achalasia of the Cardia (so-called..Cardiospasm)... For the word ‘achalasia’ I am indebted to Sir Cooper Perry, who coined it for me, as it was obvious that the word ‘cardiospasm’ and the erroneous idea it conveys would never be discarded unless some less cumbersome expression..was devised.
1925 Lancet 28 Mar. 642/2 Food is simultaneously prevented from entering the duodenum by a reflex achalasia (or failure to relax) on the part of the pyloric sphincter.
1950 Jrnl. Laryngol. & Otol. 64 747 An analogous syndrome—achalasia of the cricopharyngeus—occurs at the entrance to the œsophagus, i.e. at the exit or the lower end of the hypopharynx.
1964 Amer. Jrnl. Nursing 64 No. 10. 147/1 One cause of difficulty in swallowing is a condition known as achalasia: strictly defined, a failure of relaxation.
1999 Guardian 14 Sept. ii. 11/4 I have achalasia, often preventing food and liquids from entering my stomach for many hours.
Derivatives
achaˈlasic adj. affected by achalasia; of or relating to achalasia.
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1958 Coll. Papers Mayo Clinic & Mayo Found. 49 Index 820/2 Motility pattern, achalasic.
1979 Amer. Jrnl. Gastroenterol. 71 24 In the evaluation of patients with the achalasic syndrome, a tumor-associated functional and organic disorder mimicking idiopathic achalasia in all respects has to be considered.
2004 Jrnl. Cell Biol. 166 594/2 The results of the manometric tests were remarkably similar to those reported for achalasic patients.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2009; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.1914