Literature review for - Flourish Paediatrics

were aged between 0.5 to 8.2 months
old.
Crying and fussing were charted for
24 h, and parents completed a
validated questionnaire on reflux
symptoms. All infants underwent
oesophageal 24-h pH monitoring.
Reflux medications were ceased at
least 48 h before the study. A diary
was kept on feeding details and
posture.
Records were computer analysed for
the total number of reflux episodes,
duration of reflux episodes, and
percentage of time with an
oesophageal pH< 4.0. A fractional
reflux time (FRT) of greater than
10% was considered abnormal.
because of structural abnormalities,
inflammatory bowel disease or multiple
biopsies.
Macroscopic oesophageal findings were
obtained from endoscopy notes for 278
of the 296 patients.
Macroscopic appearance of the
oesophagus at endoscopy, original
histological findings and diagnosis were
recorded for each child. Biopsy
specimens were blindly re-evaluated,
with re-coded histological diagnoses
compared with original reports.
Quality P 0 0
Results
Twenty-seven (17.9%) of infants
with persistent crying had
The prevalence of eosinophilic
oesophagitis in WA increased over the
pathological GOR with an FRT decade 1995–2004, rising from 0.05 to
0.89 per 10 000 children (18-fold
>10%
increase).
Crying and fussing time per 24 h
correlated with neither the number of
reflux episodes per 24 h (P =0.68)
nor the FRT (P =0.84)
Patients with eosinophilic oesophagitis
had a significant increase in the median
number of eosinophils by year: 1995,
37; 1999, 41; and 2004, 80
The presence of gastrointestinal
symptoms relating to GOR were
evaluated. Symptoms were recorded
whenever the parents requested a
clinical check-up or during a set
monthly examination.
Regurgitation was defined as the loss of
a small part of the meal, without
retching
Type of feeding at entry to the study;
2332 infants (81%) were breastfed, 230
(8%) were mixed-fed and 317 (11%)
were bottle-fed
664/2879 (23%) infants suffered from
regurgitation during the study period.
Infants with regurgitation had a lower
birth weight and gestational age than
those without this symptom (3213±461
g vs 3279±453 g; P < 0.001 for birth
weight; 38.98±1.36 weeks
vs39.17±1.48 weeks; P < 0.005 for
gestational age).
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