抄録
Continuous esophageal pH monitoring was carried out in 18 patients with symptomatic GER and in six controls. The reliability of this technique for the diagnosis of GER was discussed. The studies were designed as to determine (1) the ratio of the time for total measuring time, during which the esophageal pH remains below 4.0 (percent time of GER) and (2) the frequency of GER, reflecting the decrease of esophageal pH below 4.0 which lasts for more than 5 minutes. The result was compared with those of the controls. In patients with symptomatic GER, the percent time of GER was greater than 5% ranging from 3.2 to 36.0%, while it was 0-1.2% in the controls. The frequency of GER ranged from 4 to 20 in the symptomatic GER patients. In some of these patients, there was a tremendous delay in recovery of esophageal pH, that means the duration of decrease of esophageal pH below 4.0 ranged from 10 to 30 minutes. This observation was not seen in the controls. In our series, it was suggested that it is diagnostic of GER when the parcent time of GER is greater than 5%, the frequency of GER more than 5 and the presence of delay in recovery of esophageal pH is observed. The studies substantiated the quantitative measurements of esophageal pH will provide more accurate diagnosis of GER.
