Gastroesophageal reflux disease in children: What’s new right now?

Utility of the Post-Reflux Swallow-Induced Peristaltic Wave Index and Mean Nocturnal Baseline Impedance for the Diagnosis of Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease Phenotypes in Children

(1) Objectives: Assessment of novel impedance parameters such as the post-reflux swallow-induced peristaltic wave (PSPW) index and mean nocturnal baseline impedance (MNBI) have been proposed to enhance the accuracy of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) diagnosis. We aimed to evaluate the clinical value of MNBI and the PSPW index in discerning different phenotypes of GERD in children. (2) Methods: We conducted a prospective, observational study that included 49 children aged 5-18 years, referred for MII-pH monitoring due to negative endoscopy and persisting gastroesophageal reflux symptoms despite acid-suppressant treatment. The PSPW index and MNBI were assessed along with conventional metrics. (3) Results: Using a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, MNBI (AUC 0.864) and the PSPW index (AUC 0.83) had very good performance in differentiating between non-erosive reflux disease (NERD) and functional phenotypes. The PSPW index (AUC 0.87) discriminated better between functional heartburn (FH) and reflux hypersensitivity (RH) compared to the MNBI (AUC 0.712). A PSPW cut-off value of 65% provided a sensitivity of 76.9% and a specificity of 90% in distinguishing FH and RH. The PSPW index (AUC 0.87) proved to have better performance than the MNBI (AUC 0.802) in differentiating between FH and non-FH patients. MNBI diagnosed FH with a sensitivity of 84% and a specificity of 80.6% at a cut-off value of 2563 Ω. (4) Conclusions: The PSPW index and MNBI are useful to distinguish between GERD phenotypes in pediatric patients.

Case Report: The importance of early intervention for gastroesophageal reflex disease caused by hiatal hernia

Background

Gastroesophageal reflux (GER) disease (GERD) is a condition wherein GER causes troublesome symptoms that can affect daily functioning and/or clinical complications within the esophagus or other systems. To avoid this, patients with GERD often require treatment; hence, it is important to distinguish GER from GERD. Patients with GERD exhibiting alarm signs should be examined early to differentiate it from GER and treated accordingly. Herein, we present a case of GERD caused by a hiatal hernia that required surgical intervention for esophagial cicatrical stenosis despite oral treatment. We also discussed how to choose the appropriate acid suppressants for GERD.

Case presentation

A 1-year-old boy was referred to our hospital for repeated vomiting and poor weight gain. He received histamine 2 receptor antagonists (H2RAs) that contributed slightly to the decreased frequency of vomiting and aided weight gain; however, he soon stopped gaining weight and had bloody vomit. His upper gastrointestinal series revealed hiatal hernia, a 24 h impedance pH monitoring test indicated abnormal values for acid reflux, and esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) revealed esophagitis. He was subsequently diagnosed with GERD associated with hiatal hernia. A proton pump inhibitor (PPI) was intravenously administered to him, following which his medication was changed to a potassium-competitive acid blocker (P-CAB). Thereafter, his vomiting episodes significantly decreased and his weight increased. However, 6 months after starting P-CAB, his vomiting episodes suddenly increased in frequency. EGD revealed the presence esophageal stricture due to scarring from GERD. He was then treated via laparoscopic fundoplication, gastrostomy, and esophageal balloon dilation. Thereafter, his vomiting episodes stopped and food intake improved, leading to weight gain.

Conclusion

It is essential to identify the cause of GERD early and take an appropriate treatment approach depending on the cause of GERD with alarm signs. Further, as a drug therapy for GERD as a clear acid mediated disease or in children with alarm signs, PPIs or P-CAB should be used from the beginning instead of H2RAs.

Prevalence of gastroesophageal reflux disease in children with extraesophageal manifestations using combined-video, multichannel intraluminal impedance-pH study

BACKGROUND

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) might be either a cause or comorbidity in children with extraesophageal problems especially as refractory respiratory symptoms, without any best methods or criterion for diagnosing it in children.

AIM

To evaluate the prevalence of extraesophageal GERD using conventional and combined-video, multichannel intraluminal impedance-pH (MII-pH), and to propose novel diagnostic parameters.

METHODS

The study was conducted among children suspected of extraesophageal GERD at King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital between 2019 and 2022. The children underwent conventional and/or combined-video MII-pH. The potential parameters were assessed and receiver operating characteristic was used for the significant parameters.

RESULTS

Of 51 patients (52.9% males), aged 2.24 years were recruited. The common problems were cough, recurrent pneumonia, and hypersecretion. Using MII-pH, 35.3% of the children were diagnosed with GERD by reflux index (31.4%), total reflux events (3.9%), and symptom indices (9.8%) with higher symptom recorded in the GERD group (94 vs 171, P = 0.033). In the video monitoring group (n = 17), there were more symptoms recorded (120 vs 220, P = 0.062) and more GERD (11.8% vs 29.4%, P = 0.398) by symptom indices. Longest reflux time and mean nocturnal baseline impedance were significant parameters for diagnosis with receiver operating characteristic areas of 0.907 (P = 0.001) and 0.726 (P = 0.014).

CONCLUSION

The prevalence of extraesophageal GERD in children was not high as expected. The diagnostic yield of symptom indices increased using video monitoring. Long reflux time and mean nocturnal baseline impedance are novel parameters that should be integrated into the GERD diagnostic criteria in children.