Association of gastroesophageal reflux and chest pain in children with mitral valve prolapse

Background and Aims: To date, few studies have investigated the association of pediatric functional gastrointestinal diseases with mitral valve prolapse and chest pain. We aimed to describe the relationship between chest pain and gastroesophageal reflux disease in children with mitral valve prolapse. Materials and Methods: This study included 70 pediatric patients with mild-to-moderate mitral valve prolapse with complaints of typical upper gastrointestinal system symptoms and chest pain. The patients were treated with medical anti-reflux drug therapy for 8 weeks. Before and after treatment, the patients were assessed with the Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease Impact Scale. Results: The mean patient age was 13.24±2.81 years, and 42 (60%) patients were female. The duration of symptoms in 30 patients was longer than 6 weeks, and that of 40 patients was shorter than 6 weeks. The mean symptom duration of all patients was 8±2.2 weeks. The most frequently reported symptom was chest pain (89.9%), followed by regurgitation (50%). Compared with children who had chronic gastroesophageal reflux, children with recent, acute gastroesophageal reflux reported significantly more frequent and severe symptoms. There was no significant relationship between the severity of mitral valve prolapse and symptoms. Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease Impact Scale scores of all patients were significantly decreased after treatment (p < 0.01). Although both groups of patients benefited from treatment, it was found that patients with newly diagnosed gastroesophageal reflux disease benefited significantly more from treatment than patients with chronic disease. Conclusion: Many preadolescents and adolescents with mitral valve prolapse and chest pain had symptomatic gastroesophageal reflux disease. Specific diagnosis and therapy for gastroesophageal reflux disease alleviated chest pain in most patients