title: Do gastrointestinal and respiratory signs and symptoms correlate with the severity of gastroesophageal reflux?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Gastroesophageal reflux (GER) is a disorder that is common by seen in childhood and may lead to severe complications. In this study, we ascertained the incidence of GER among the children who had typical and atypical complaints of GER and whether there was a difference between two groups comparing the findings of 24-hour pH-meter.
  
  
  METHODS
  39 out of 70 patients with typical and atypical GER symptoms were diagnosed as GER by 24-hour pH-meter monitoring. The patients were divided into three groups, those having gastrointestinal complaints, those having respiratory complaints and those having both gastrointestinal and respiratory symptoms.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Evaluated the GER prevalence in these groups, it was found to be 60% in the gastrointestinal group, 48.6% in the respiratory group and 75% in the mixed group. When pH-meter measurements of GER positive patients were compared within the clinical groups, the fraction of time that pH was lower than 4 was found to be significantly higher in the mixed group (p = 0.004).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The coexistence of gastrointestinal and respiratory symptoms in the patients with GER may be related to the severe reflux.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Duzce University School of Medicine, 81620 Konuralp, Duzce, Turkey. uzunhakan2003@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Hakan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Uzun
authors.forename: Demet
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Alagoz
authors.forename: Mesut
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Okur
authors.forename: Bunyamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Dikici
authors.forename: Kenan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kocabay
authors.forename: Dursun Ali
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Senses
authors.forename: Aybars
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ozkan
authors.forename: Murat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kaya
mesh_terms: D015746:Abdominal Pain / Q000209:etiology; D000293:Adolescent; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D050782:Esophageal pH Monitoring; D005183:Failure to Thrive / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D005764:Gastroesophageal Reflux / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006356:Heartburn / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012140:Respiratory Tract Diseases / Q000209:etiology*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D014839:Vomiting / Q000209:etiology