Usefulness of Endoscopic Hill Grade in Evaluating Children Suspected of Having Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease

In Hyuk Yoo; Jung Yeon Joo; Hye Ran Yang

doi:10.5056/jnm20033

J Neurogastroenterol Motil https://doi.org/10.5056/jnm20033

Usefulness of Endoscopic Hill Grade in Evaluating Children Suspected of Having Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease

In Hyuk Yoo

,¹ Jung Yeon Joo

,¹ and Hye Ran Yang

^1,2*

¹Department of Pediatrics, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seongnam, Gyeonggi-do, Korea; and ²Department of Pediatrics, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

Correspondence to: Hye Ran Yang, MD, PhD
Department of Pediatrics, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seoul National University, 82, Gumi-ro 173 Beon-gil, Bundang-gu, Seongnam, Gyeonggi-do 13620, Korea
Tel: +82-31-787-7285, Fax: +82-31-787-4054,
E-mail: hryang@snubh.org

Received: February 19, 2020; Revised: May 13, 2020; Accepted: October 24, 2020; Published online: January 28, 2021.

Abstract: Background/Aims
This study aim to evaluate the relationship between the Hill grade confirmed by esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) and the degree of gastroesophageal reflux (GER) by 24-hour multichannel intraluminal impedance-pH monitoring (MII-pH) in children suspected of having gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).
Methods
A retrospective review of 105 children and adolescents who underwent EGD and MII-pH for the evaluation of GERD from March 2013 to July 2019 was performed. Clinical features and results of EGD and 24-hour MII-pH were collected and statistically analyzed.
Results
Hill grades 1, 2, 3, and 4 were identified using EGD in 56 (53.3%), 22 (22.0%), 16 (15.2%), and 11 (10.5%) patients, respectively. As the Hill grade increased, the proportion of neurological diseases (P < 0.001) and endoscopic erosive esophagitis (P < 0.001) increased significantly. The acid exposure index, bolus exposure index, number of reflux episodes, and number of GER reaching proximal extent on MII-pH increased significantly as the endoscopic Hill grade increased (all P < 0.001). Linear regression analysis revealed an increase in the Hill grade by 1 increased the acid exposure index by 2.0%, bolus exposure index by 0.7%, number of reflux episodes by 18.9 episodes, and the number of GER reaching the proximal esophagus increased by 10.5 episodes on average (all P < 0.001).
Conclusions
Hill grade on EGD was associated with GER in children. Estimating the degree of GER by applying Hill grade in the retroflexion view may be useful in practice when evaluating children suspected with GERD.; Keywords: Child; Endoscopy; Esophageal pH monitoring; Gastroesophageal reflux