Does (supra)gastric belching trigger recurrent hiccups?

Figure 1 Oesophageal intraluminal impedance monitoring combined with oesophageal pH measurements. A: Three minutes stretch of the tracings showing an abnormally low basal impedance with repetitive impedance peaks in all channels marked EV 1-4; B: Zoomed-in segment of the recording shows that an impedance peak (EV3) starts in the proximal channel, moves in the antegrade direction and is cleared in the retrograde direction. The horizontal bar represents 1.000 s. The patient reported severe belching at 10:30:00 during this period of repetitive supragastric belches (SGBs). Oesophageal pH is continuously below 4.

Figure 2 Combined impedance and perfusion manometry. A: Pressure tracings from 31-36 min during spontaneous onset of a hiccup attack at time 33:20 min; B: Combined impedance and manometry of a zoomed in segment of Figure 2A shows that the hiccup episodes are preceded by 2 gastric belches and high pressure simultaneous, repetitive contractions; C: Another zoomed in segment of Figure 2A shows that hiccups are accompanied by sharp positive pressure peaks in the lower oesophageal sphincter and stomach, and by negative peaks in the oesophagus. The upper border of the lower oesophageal sphincter (LOS) was located at 51 cm from the nostrils.