Elisa Blasi, Ettore Stefanelli, Renato Tambucci, Silvia Salvatore, Paola De Angelis, Paolo Quitadamo, Claudia Pacchiarotti, Giovanni Di Nardo, Fanj Crocco, Enrico Felici, Valentina Giorgio, Nicoletta Staropoli, Simona Sestito, Efstratios Saliakellis, Osvaldo Borrelli, Licia Pensabene
BACKGROUND/AIMS: Since available data on pediatric non-erosive esophageal phenotypes (NEEPs) are scant, we investigated their prevalence and the phenotype-dependent treatment response in these children. METHODS: Over a 5-year period, children with negative upper endoscopy, who underwent esophageal pH-impedance (off-therapy) for persisting symptoms not responsive to proton pump inhibitor (PPI)-treatment, were recruited. Based on the results of acid reflux index (RI) and symptom association probability (SAP), patients were categorized into: (1) abnormal RI (non-erosive reflux disease [NERD]), (2) normal RI and abnormal SAP (reflux hypersensitivity [RH]), (3) normal RI and normal SAP (functional heartburn [FH]), and (4) normal RI and not-reliable SAP (normal-RI-not otherwise-specified [normal-RI-NOS])...
April 30, 2023: Journal of Neurogastroenterology and Motility