Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0017168 (gastroesophageal reflux disease)
 11,783 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The etiology and mechanisms involved in determining and/or maintaining the inflammatory process along the airway mucosa remain partially obscure. The role of gastroesophageal reflux (GER) has been demonstrated in some cases of bronchitis and laryngitis especially in children. In adults, GER-related laryngitis has also been mentioned. In children, repeated rhinopharyngitis and otitis media due to GER remain a putative question. In this study, 31 infants and children underwent a day and night nasopharyngeal pH monitoring. Thirteen patients with known GER suffered from chronic or repeated rhinitis or rhinopharyngitis. Eighteen control subjects with or without GER were free of upper airway inflammatory process. In some pathological cases the pH dropped dramatically. The pH drops were more important in most of the GER/rhinitis cases than in controls. Of the reviewed criteria, the percentage of time spent below pH 6 (or pharyngeal acidity index) is the most statistically significant (P less than 0.00005). Thus, the influence of a gastro-esophago-nasopharyngeal acid reflux is strongly suggested in this common pediatric pathology, among other causes. However, the technique used does not allow us to assess the true origin of these pH changes. Further investigation with two-site pH monitoring and larger series of patients are required in order to fully assess the influence of GER on pediatric nasopharyngeal inflammation.
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PMID:Nasopharyngeal pH monitoring in infants and children with chronic rhinopharyngitis. 175 36

In view of the well-known relationship between gastro-oesophageal reflux (GOR) and inflammatory diseases of the bronchi, trachea and larynx, the possibility of a pathogenic acid reflux reaching the pharynx has sometimes been suspected but never demonstrated. Paediatric E.N.T. specialists are often confronted with chronic inflammatory rhinopharyngitis of no obvious origin. In order to test the hypothesis of rhinopharyngeal contamination by gastric acid, the nycthemeral local pH was recorded in children presenting with chronic rhinopharyngitis and gastro-oesophageal reflux, and in two groups of controls without rhinopharyngitis and with or without GOR. Falls in rhinopharyngeal pH were found to be more frequent and to last longer in the 18 patients than in controls. The most significant criterion was the time during which the pH was lower than 6 compared with the total time of recording in these cases where pharyngeal pH measurements were recorded over 15 to 26 hours. It seemed most probable that this acidity resulted from the gastro-oesophageal reflux. Such variations in acid-base balance at the surface of a respiratory mucosa might be instrumental in the genesis or maintenance of the nasopharyngeal inflammatory reaction. However, these two hypotheses must be confirmed or infirmed by further studies.
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PMID:[Variations of nasopharyngeal pH in nasopharyngitis in children]. 183 73