Heartburn according to Rome II in Spanish-Mexico: gastroesophageal reflux must be ruled out

Heartburn precludes ruling out gastroesophageal reflux (GER) to diagnose functional heartburn (FH).

To explore the frequency of GER in patients in Mexico reporting heartburn according to Rome II and whether GER in non-heartburn patients is related to dyspepsia.

We analyzed 40 patients that answered the Rome II Questionnaire in Spanish-Mexico and were tested with pH-monitoring and/or endoscopy. GER was determined in heartburn and non-heartburn patients and dyspepsia symptoms in heartburn GER and non-heartburn GER.

Heartburn was reported by 40%, GER was present in 62.5% of them vs. 29.2% of the non-heartburn (p = 0.037). Accordingly, 37.5% of those reporting heartburn had FH, for a real prevalence of 15%. Of the non-heartburn GER, 43.0% reported dyspepsia symptoms.

In patients with heartburn by Rome II Spanish-Mexico, GER must be ruled out. GER is also present in a subset of non heartburn patients manifested by dyspepsia symptoms.