[Prolonged esophageal pH monitoring. Evaluation of 170 tests]

The authors present the experience from a university service of 170 outpatients submitted to 24-hour esophageal pH recording. Indications were: typical symptoms such as heartburn (67 patients), with and without endoscopic esophagitis, chest pain (65 patients; 40% had normal coronariography), a select group with dysphagia (28), besides eight asthmatics, one chronic intractable hiccups, and one esophageal ulcer. There was abnormal reflux in 47% of the total group. pH recording showed abnormal results in 86% of patients presenting heartburn and esophagitis and in 50% of patients without esophagitis. In the chest pain group, 37% had abnormal reflux, but pain with reflux episode could be observed only in 1/5 of them. Twenty percent of dysphagia patients had pathologic reflux and 50% among asthmactics, but the number of patients is small. Authors emphasize the importance of pHmetry as a diagnostic tool and suggest that it is important the knowledge of reflux pattern in healthy Brazilian people.