[Clinical picture and diagnosis of reflux esophagitis in children]

Whereas a burning retrosternal pain irradiating upward is the main symptom of reflux esophagitis in the adult, this symptom is usually not extant in children. Rather, the child will show unaccountable vomiting, stunted growth, anemia of unknown etiology, and respiratory disturbances. The pathologic condition more often associated with reflux esophagitis is hypertrophic stenosis of the pylorus, which is in fact regarded as one of the causes of the esophageal disorder. Reflux esophagitis may lead to ulceration and hemorrhage, and may evolve into cicatricial retraction and esophageal stenosis, the latter sometimes quite tight. The condition is diagnosed in light of radiological examination and endoscopy. Whit older children, one may add the Bernstein test and pressure and pH readings. The paper concludes by pointing out the different diagnostic approach in the newborn and small baby on the one hand and in older children on the other.