Gastroesophageal refl ux disease and broncho- obstructive syndrome in children — a “vicious circle” or comorbidity?

This article is devoted to the comorbidity of diseases of the digestive tract and respiratory system in children. Comorbidity (polymorbidity) in the pathology of the gastrointestinal tract is widely described in modern scientific literature, however, the relationship between the digestive and respiratory systems seems to be less studied.

The purpose of the study was to analyze the endoscopic signs of refl ux pathology of the digestive tract in children with a comorbid condition — GERD and respiratory diseases occurring with broncho-o bstructive syndrome (BOS).

Materials and methods. An in-depth examination of 180 children from 6 to 16 years old with comorbid pathology (respiratory diseases with BOS and GERD) was carried out. Performed: X-ray examination, spirometry, intracavitary pH-metry, EFGDS and ultrasound of the gastrointestinal tract. To study the morphological features of the esophageal mucosa in this comorbidity, biopsies were examined 1 cm above the Z-line; at the same time, a biopsy of the mucosa of the antrum of the prepyloric part of the stomach was performed.

Results. Respiratory diseases with biofeedback in the examined groups of patients were most often (43.9%) combined with GERD at the age of 12–14 years. The predominance of endoscopically positive grade 1 GERD is typical for patients with broncho- obstructive syndrome caused by moderate and severe persistent BA, acute and prolonged pneumonia, and recurrent bronchitis. Infl ammatory diseases of the digestive system (chronic gastritis, chronic gastroduodenitis) in BA were detected in 40.6% of patients, in pneumonia — in 45.7%, in recurrent bronchitis — in 33.3% of patients. Based on the data of a general morphological study of biopsy specimens, regardless of age and type of bronchopulmonary pathology, two variants of infl ammation were identifi ed, which are more common than others — with a predominance of dystrophic changes and with a predominance of infl ammation itself, which largely depended on the duration of the disease. In patients suff ering from both BA and pneumonia with biofeedback, morphological changes in the esophageal mucosa corresponded to the catarrhal nature of the infl ammation.

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