Sanjay Singh, Lalit Mishra

ABSTRACT

Background: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a chronic and progressive interstitial disease characterized by the histological pattern of usual interstitial pneumonia. There is evidence of high prevalence of up to 90% of classic gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) in IPF in a number of studies. The present study was conducted to study the cases of GERD in patients suffering from IPF. Materials & Methods: The present study was conducted in the department of chest & TB. It consists of 24 cases of IPF. Patients were submitted to pulmonary func¬tion tests, and the values of FVC, FEV1, the FEV1/FVC ratio, TLC and corrected DLCO were analyzed. Patients completed a general questionnaire on respiratory and digestive symptoms, as well as the Quality of Life Scale for Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD-QoL). pH metry was performed in all patients. Results: Out of 24 patients, males were 14 and females were 10. The difference was non- significant (P- 0.1). Out of 24 patients, 10 (41.7%) had GERD. Common symptoms in GERD + patients were heartburn (7), regurgitation (2), epigastic pain (6), dysphagia (3), cough (5) and chest pain (8) and in GERD- patients, heartburn (3), regurgitation (2), epigastic pain (1), dysphagia (2), cough (1) and chest pain (1). The difference was significant (P< 0.05). Conclusion: The prevalence of GERD was higher in patients with IPF. Reflux was more impaired due to esophageal hypomo¬tility, which was more common is these patients.