Radionuclide detection of gastroesophageal reflux in children suffering from recurrent lower respiratory tract infection.
No Thumbnail Available
Date
1990-07-01
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
Radionuclide gastro-esophageal scintigraphy was performed on 25 control and 183 children suffering from recurrent lower respiratory tract infection. Gastro-esophageal reflux (GER) of varying grades was observed in 135 patients. The severity of clinical symptoms in the patients was found to be directly related to the severity of reflux observed in the radionuclide study. In some patients an attempt was also made to quantitate GER by calculating the Gastro-esophageal reflux index. The results of the scintigraphic study were correlated with the results of the other commonly used and more conventional Barium swallow and fluoroscopy study. Gastro-esophageal scintigraphy was found to be much superior in terms of sensitivity, specificity and accuracy in detecting GER. It was also possible to objectively evaluate and monitor response to treatment following conservative or corrective surgical therapy using the radionuclide technique. The results of the study demonstrated a remarkably high incidence of GER in the patients. Whether GER is the cause of recurrent lower respiratory tract infection or not is difficult to establish firmly. But within the preview of the study the association seems to be very strong and cannot be easily ignored.
Description
Keywords
Citation
Padhy AK, Gopinath PG, Sharma SK, Prasad AK, Arora NK, Tiwari DC, Gupta K, Chetty A. Radionuclide detection of gastroesophageal reflux in children suffering from recurrent lower respiratory tract infection. Indian Journal of Pediatrics. 1990 Jul-Aug; 57(4): 517-25