Premium
Weakly acidic gastroesophageal refluxes are frequently triggers in young children with chronic cough
Author(s) -
Ghezzi Michele,
Guida Edoardo,
Ullmann Nicola,
Sacco Oliviero,
Mattioli Girolamo,
Jasonni Vincenzo,
Rossi Giovanni A.,
Silvestri Michela
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
pediatric pulmonology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.866
H-Index - 106
eISSN - 1099-0496
pISSN - 8755-6863
DOI - 10.1002/ppul.22581
Subject(s) - medicine , reflux , chronic cough , gastroenterology , esophageal ph monitoring , asthma , gerd , disease
Abstract Objective To evaluate whether the proportion of acid and weakly acidic refluxes preceding cough bursts could be different in infants, preschool‐ and school‐aged children with chronic, unexplained cough. Patients and Methods One hundred six children with unexplained chronic cough, not receiving acid suppressive therapy, underwent impedance–pH monitoring. They were divided into Group A: <2 years (21 pts), Group B: ≥2 to ≤6 years (41 pts), and Group C: >6 years (44 pts). Reflux was defined as acid (pH <4), weakly acidic (WA; pH 4–7), and weakly alkaline (pH >7).Cough episodes were considered temporally associated with gastroesophageal reflux (GER) when occurring within 2 min after a GER episode. Results Impedance–pH detected 55.50 (39.00–76.00) reflux episodes/patient with an acid‐to‐WA reflux event ratio of 3.31 (1.55–8.33). This parameter was significantly lower in Group A (1.33 [0.41–3.40]) than in Group B (3.06 [2.00–6.50]; P < 0.05] and Group C (5.09 [2.34–12.43; P < 0.001]). No cough episode was preceded by weakly alkaline refluxes in any patient. During impedance–pH recording, 93 patients (87.7%) had at least one cough episode that had been preceded by impedance refluxes in 83 patients. In this latter group (83 pts), the median number of cough episodes was 12.0 (5.0–25.5), of which 48.15% (30.15–71.43%) were preceded by refluxes; GER‐preceded cough episodes were similar in the three groups. The majority of children had cough episodes preceded by acid refluxes in the total population (78.3%), in Group B (80.5%) and in Group C (93.7%), but not in Group A (40.0%; P < 0.001). Conclusions In addition to acid, also a significant proportion of WA GER may precede cough episodes in young children with persistent cough, possibly explaining the inconstant effects of anti‐acid treatment on respiratory symptoms. Pediatr Pulmonol. 2013; 48:295–302. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.