Determinants of Abnormal Supine Reflux in 24-Hour pH Recordings.

A previous study showed that supine gastroesophageal reflux occurs mainly in the early nighttime period and is greater if the patient retires within 2 hr of a meal. We analyzed 306 consecutive esophageal pH studies between January and July 2003. Ninety-two patients had abnormal supine reflux.

An algorithm for family screening for coeliac disease.

Aim: To assess the level of undiagnosed coeliac disease (CD) in relatives of patients affected by the condition.

Methods: We collected blood from 914 relatives of probands. We screened these individuals by ELISA for IgA and IgG tTG antibodies, confirming any positive IgA tTG results with an IgA EMA and looked for evidence of IgA deficiency in those who were IgG tTG positive alone, and performed IgG1 EMA in these individuals.

Acid perfusion test: a useful test for evaluating esophageal acid sensitivity.

The acid perfusion test (APT) is a test of esophageal acid sensitivity. In gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), the APT has largely been superseded by indexes derived from 24-hr esophageal pH monitoring: symptom index (SI), symptom sensitivity index (SSI), and symptom association probability (SAP). To evaluate the role of APT in patients with GERD we compared values of SI, SSI, and SAP in 126 APT+ and 146 APT- patients.