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GERD correlated with gastrointestinal, respiratory symptoms
A recent study showed that the coexistence of gastrointestinal and respiratory symptoms may correlate with the severity of gastroesophageal reflux disease in children.
Children aged 2 to 17 years (n=70) participated in a study in Turkey to gauge the relationship between gastrointestinal and respiratory symptoms in GERD. The patients were divided into three groups: patients with gastrointestinal complaints (heartburn, abdominal pain, recurrent regurgitation, vomiting, and failure to thrive); respiratory complaints (respiratory infection, pharyngitis/tonsillitis, otitis, croup, bronchiolitis, persistent cough, and wheezing (nonrelated atopy); and mixed symptoms (gastrointestinal and respiratory symptoms). Using a 24-hour esophageal pH meter, researchers were able to detect GERD in the pediatric patients.
The patients participated in daily activities and their feeding times were recorded during 24 hours. All 24-hour pH-metry recordings were manually analyzed, and all data underwent visual validation. Referencing the DeMeester score (DS), pathological GERD data were recorded by a distal sensor. Five parameters (number of reflux episodes, number of episodes longer than 5 minutes in 24 hours, longest reflux episode, fraction of time with pH lower than 4, and reflux index, measured as refluxes/hour) were established to compare the patients’ results. GERD was diagnosed when the reflux index was >4, or the DS was >14.7, or pathological reflux was considered as at least one reflux episode with a pH <4 in the proximal sensor.
According to the 24-hour pH-metry results, GERD was diagnosed in 56% of the patients (n=39). Sixty percent of the gastrointestinal group (n=15), 49% of the respiratory group (n=18), and 75% of the mixed group (n=6) were diagnosed with GERD.
“…the coexistence of gastrointestinal and respiratory symptoms in patients with GER[D] confirms the severity of reflux,” the researchers concluded, citing the limitations of the study’s size.
