Editorial: Reflux, dyspepsia, and Rome III (or Rome IV?)

The paper by Xiao et al. in this issue of American Journal of Gastroenterology reports that patients with functional dyspepsia (FD) complaining of epigastric burning have a higher probability to present abnormal gastroesophageal acid reflux, as well as response to proton pump inhibitor therapy than those complaining of epigastric pain, bothersome postprandial fullness, or early satiety. No differences in the above parameters were detected when comparing patients with epigastric pain syndrome and postprandial distress syndrome, as proposed by the Rome III classification of FD. If confirmed, these results contribute to clarify the relationship between FD and gastroesophageal reflux disease and, at the same time, highlight the importance of analyzing individual symptoms rather than clusters of symptoms, when managing patients complaining of upper gastrointestinal symptoms.