Follow-up of a cohort of children and adolescents with gastro-esophageal reflux disease who were free of reflux esophagitis at initial diagnosis

AbstractObjective. Few studies have examined the incidence of complications from gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD) in children and adolescents in primary care. Here we aimed to describe the natural history of GERD in a pediatric population with no reflux esophagitis at initial diagnosis, assessing diagnoses of new esophageal complications and extra-esophageal conditions. Material and methods. We used The Health Improvement Network UK primary care database (which includes data on more than 2 million patients) to identify individuals aged 1–17 years with a first diagnosis of gastro-esophageal reflux or heartburn in the period 2000–2005, via a computerized search followed by a manual review of the patient records. This search identified 1242 individuals with an incident diagnosis of GERD but no record of esophagitis. This cohort was followed-up to detect new diagnoses of esophageal complications and extra-esophageal conditions. Results. During a mean follow-up period of almost 4 years, 40 children and ...