PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Thaís Mendes-Lopes
AU  - Mariana Veras
AU  - José Dirceu Ribeiro
AU  - Maria Aparecida Mezzacappa
TI  - High prevalence of esophageal acid exposure in very low birth weight infants presenting or not bronchopulmonary dysplasia
DP  - 2014 Sep 01
TA  - European Respiratory Journal
PG  - P3305
VI  - 44
IP  - Suppl 58
4099  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/44/Suppl_58/P3305.short
4100  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/44/Suppl_58/P3305.full
SO  - Eur Respir J2014 Sep 01; 44
AB  - Background: A high frequency of treatment for gastroesophageal reflux (GER) disease is observed in neonates with bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). The association between these illnesses is controversial.Objective: Determine by esophageal pH monitoring the prevalence of reflux index (RI ≥10%) in very low birth weight (VLBW) infants presenting or not BPD. Methods: A prospective cross-sectional study was conducted. Thirty-five newborns presenting BPD and 15 newborns not presenting BPD underwent distal esophageal pH monitoring during their stay in a university hospital neonatal unit. The frequency of symptoms and GER treatment were studied in both groups. Data were analyzed using Fisher's Exact Test. Results: The prevalence of RI ≥10% did not differ between groups presenting (65.7%) and not BPD (93.3%); p=0.075. There was no significant difference between symptoms attributable to GER, occurred in 91.4% of newborns presenting BPD and in 73.3% of the group not presenting BPD. Antireflux treatment was introduced to 80% of the subjects presenting BPD and to 20% of patients not presenting BPD; (p<0.001). Conclusions: There is a high prevalence of increased esophageal mucosal exposure to acid in VLBW infants presenting or not BPD. The symptoms attributable to GER are frequent in both groups; however, in VLBW infants not presenting BPD, a clinical progression complicated by GER is less frequent. Nevertheless, BPD is associated with a higher frequency of GER treatment, the indication of any therapeutic modality must be cautious, and the laboratory investigation associated with a clinical evaluation may contribute to a reduction in the number of unnecessary treatment.