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Query: UMLS:C0037090 (Respiratory symptoms)
 467 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Gastroesophageal reflux (GER) is a dysfunction of the distal esophagus causing movement of stomach contents into the esophagus. Patients may develop heartburn, regurgitation, dysphagia, odynophagia, and hemorrhage. Respiratory symptoms occur in 10-60 percent of patients with GER or hiatal hernia. Although there is evidence associating pulmonary symptoms and GER, causality has not been proven. The appropriate use of antireflux therapy or surgery to treat GER may consequently alleviate respiratory symptoms.
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PMID:Gastroesophageal reflux and respiratory symptoms: is there an association? Proposed mechanisms and treatment. 227 31

Patients with achalasia tolerate considerable distension of the esophagus. Respiratory symptoms usually are due to regurgitation and pulmonary aspiration of retained food rather than to a space-occupying mechanism. We describe a case of previously undiagnosed achalasia presenting in an elderly woman with symptoms consistent with tracheal obstruction of acute onset.
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PMID:Acute airway obstruction and achalasia of the esophagus. 276 48

The aetiologic factors in gastro-oesophageal reflux disease include the free reflux of gastric juice, the composition of refluxed juice, the defensive mechanisms of the oesophagus, which are both mechanical and mucosal, and, sometimes, gastric abnormalities. Symptoms include heartburn, odynophagia, chest pain, dysphagia, regurgitation, and, occasionally, haemorrhage. Respiratory symptoms may occur. Diagnosis is based on determining the pressure and frequency of reflux (for which pH monitoring is preferred), testing for symptoms that may be caused by reflux, and assessing the degree of oesophagitis, for which endoscopy and histology are the only known techniques.
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PMID:Aetiology, pathogenesis, and clinical manifestations of gastro-oesophageal reflux disease. 306 36

Dilatation and oesophageal body aperistalsis in achalasia can lead to stasis which in turn can induce repeated microaspiration. It is therefore conceivable that patients with achalasia may also have abnormalities in lungs secondary to repeated episodes of microaspiration. There is a lack of systematic study on involvement of lungs in patients with achalasia. Thirty patients with achalasia underwent pulmonary function tests (spirometry, and carbon mono-oxide diffusion capacity) and high resolution computerized tomography (HRCT) of the chest. The mean age of patients and mean duration of disease were 33.5 +/- 10.9 years and 28.1 +/- 27.3 months respectively. Regurgitation was present in 22 (73.3%) of them. Respiratory symptoms in them were dry cough in 17 (56.6%), and chest pain in 18 (60%). The oesophagus was dilated in 26 (86.6%) and 13 (43.3%) had residue in oesophagus. Sixteen (53.3%) patients had either anatomical changes as seen on HRCT or functional changes as observed on pulmonary function tests. Of those with functional abnormalities, five (16.6%) and one (3.3%) had restrictive and obstructive airways disease respectively. While evidence of tracheo-bronchial compression by dilated oesophagus was present in eight (26.6%), 10 (33.3%) patients had parenchymal lung disease [nodular opacities in five (16.6%), ground glass appearance six (20%), patchy pulmonary fibrosis five (16.6%), air trapping two (6.6%), consolidation and bronchiectasis one (3.3%) each]. There was a significant association between presence of regurgitation and dilatation of oesophagus (P = 0.032). More than half (53.3%) of patients with achalasia have structural and/or functional abnormalities in lungs.
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PMID:Structural and functional abnormalities in lungs in patients with achalasia. 1922 59