Does simultaneous gastric and esophageal pH monitoring increase the diagnosis of gastroesophageal reflux disease

SUMMARY: Demir H, Ozen H, Kocak N, Saltýk-Temizel IN, Gurakan F. Doessimultaneous gastric and esophageal pH monitoring increase the diagnosis ofgastroesophageal reflux disease?. Turk J Pediatr 2005; 47: 14-16.The duration of gastric acidity may affect the interpretation of esophageal pHmonitoring study. The aim of this study was to increase the sensitivity of pHmonitoring by simultaneous gastric and esophageal pH recording. Fifty-sevenpatients were enrolled in the study. After the first analysis, the recording periodsin which gastric pH was >4 were excluded and after this exclusion parameterswere recalculated. Of the 57 patients, 14 (24.6%) (mean age, 70–4.6 years)were diagnosed as having gastroesophageal reflux disease with the use ofconventional method. After correction, gastroesophageal reflux disease diagnosiswas made in 6 additional patients (mean age, 2.4–2.4 years) and total numberof patients with reflux increased to 20 (35.1%) (p=0.031). The mean percentagetime of gastric pH>4 was significantly greater in children younger than 2 yearsof age than that in those older than 2 years of age (50.6%–15.2% vs33.7%–18.1%) (p=0.001). Exclusion of periods in which gastric pH>4 affectedthe results more obviously in patients younger than 2 years. Simultaneous gastricand esophageal pH monitoring is useful for the diagnosis of gastroesophagealreflux disease, particularly in children younger than 2 years of age.