Nuclear medicine imaging test could aid children suffering from reflux disease

A nuclear medicine imaging test was used to confirm that children with respiratory problems may be more likely to develop gastroesophageal reflux disease, according to researchers at Society of Nuclear Medicine's 55th Annual Meeting.

The nuclear imaging technique, known as scintigraphy, was also shown to be more effective in detecting the disease in these children than traditional barium X-ray technology. The results indicate that scintigraphy could become an important diagnostic tool for detecting reflux disease, a serious condition that can lead to chronic chest pain, vomiting, weight loss and lung impairment in children who suffer from it.

"Unfortunately, reflux disease is a common problem in children, especially for those with respiratory problems," said Wajiha Nasir, a researcher at the Nuclear Medicine Oncology and Radiotherapy Institute (NORI), Islamabad, Pakistan. "If left untreated, the disease can seriously impede children's health, growth and development, not to mention their quality of life. Our results show that scintigraphy is highly effective at safely diagnosing the condition."

Reflux disease occurs when the esophagus becomes irritated or inflamed by stomach contents. The stomach produces hydrochloric acid after a meal to aid in the digestion of food. Normally, a ring of muscle at the bottom of the esophagus, called the lower esophageal sphincter, prevents the acid from going back up the esophagus. With reflux disease, however, the sphincter relaxes between swallows, allowing stomach contents and corrosive acid to well up and damage the lining of the esophagus.

The chronic condition affects up to a third of adults, and many infants and children also suffer from it. Some of these children outgrow the condition as their digestive systems mature, but many do not. Researchers have long suspected that children who have respiratory problems such as asthma might also be more susceptible to reflux disease.

Scintigraphy is a diagnostic test in which a two-dimensional picture is obtained through detection of a radiation emitted by a radioactive source given to the body. In this study, 55 children aged six months to 12 years who had asthma or lower respiratory tract infections were orally administered a commonly used radioactive imaging agent that was then detected through scintigraphy technology.

The test detected reflux disease in 66.6 percent of the children, revealing a strong association between reflux disease and respiratory disease. In addition, scintigraphy proved more effective at detecting the disease than traditional barium x-rays. Children in the study who exhibited reflux disease were given medication to treat reflux. At a three-month follow-up visit, most of the children's symptoms had improved after receiving the medication.

"Scintigraphy is one of the simplest radionuclide tests to administer, with a very low radiation burden," said Nasir. If performed routinely for children suffering from bronchial asthma and recurrent respiratory tract infections, this test could get children the treatment they deserve."