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Updated: May 31, 2026
Simultaneous Laryngopharyngeal and Conventional Esophageal pH Monitoring
Published on: December 14, 2020
Concomitant vesicoureteral reflux and gastroesophageal reflux: an analytic cross-sectional study
Aydin H Pooli1, Shima Aran, Amir Reza Farhoud
1Department of Surgery, Montefiore Medical Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
Insights
Gastroesophageal reflux (GER) is more common in children with vesicoureteral reflux (VUR), especially in infants and those with more severe VUR. Both conditions often resolve with age, suggesting a shared developmental cause.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Urology
- Gastroenterology
- Developmental Pediatrics
Background:
- Vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) and gastroesophageal reflux (GER) are common in children and can cause significant morbidity.
- Both conditions share similar natural histories and pathophysiology, tending to resolve spontaneously over time.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the concurrent occurrence and prevalence of GER in children with VUR.
- To determine if VUR and GER represent different manifestations of a shared syndrome linked to sphincter developmental delay.
Main Methods:
- A study involving 174 children aged 2 years or younger.
- 87 children with primary VUR formed the patient group; a control group of similar age and sex distribution was also included.
- All participants underwent ultrasonographic evaluation to detect GER.
Main Results:
- GER was more frequent and prevalent in children with primary VUR, particularly in higher grades of VUR.
- Higher prevalence of GER and VUR grades were observed in younger infants, indicating a tendency for both conditions to resolve with age.
- Bilateral VUR was more common in higher VUR grades and in patients with GER, with prevalence decreasing with age.
Conclusions:
- The increased prevalence of GER in VUR patients and the correlation between VUR severity and GER co-occurrence support a shared etiology.
- Given their natural resolution over time, VUR and GER may be considered components of a developmental delay syndrome affecting sphincters.
Purpose:
Vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) and Gastroesophageal reflux (GER) are both common disorders in children and could be associated with significant morbidities. Although they appear to be separate entities, their natural history and underlying pathophysiology are the same and they both tend to resolve over time. We aimed to appraise their concurrent occurrence and prevalence of GER in VUR patients to understand whether they can be considered different manifestations of a syndrome mainly caused by developmental delay resulting in dysfunction of the sphincters.
Methods:
Totally, 174 children ≤ 2 years of age were enrolled and 87 of them with primary VUR constituted patients group. The rest of the cases with the same age and sex distribution entered control group. All the study population underwent ultrasonographic evaluation to detect GER.
Results:
GER was more frequent in patients with primary VUR. GER was more prevalent in higher grades of VUR. We observed higher prevalence of GER and higher grades of VUR in younger infants demonstrating the tendency of both conditions to resolve overtime. Bilateral VUR was more prevalent among patients with higher grades of VUR. GER was more prevalent in patients with bilateral VUR and Prevalence of bilateral VUR decreased with increase in age. These findings show that the chance of concomitant GER and VUR is higher in children with more severe developmental defect of sphincters.
Conclusions:
Regarding the higher prevalence of GER among VUR patients and correlation of VUR severity with co-occurrence of GER, besides the natural tendency of both conditions to resolve overtime, they may be considered parts of developmental delay syndrome of sphincters.
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