Heartburn according to Rome II in Spanish-Mexico: gastroesophageal reflux must be ruled out.

BACKGROUND: Heartburn precludes ruling out gastroesophageal reflux (GER) to diagnose functional heartburn (FH). AIMS: To explore the frequency of GER in patients in Mexico reporting heartburn according to Rome II and whether GER in non-heartburn patients is related to dyspepsia. METHODS: We analyzed 40 patients that answered the Rome II Questionnaire in Spanish-Mexico and were tested with pH-monitoring and/or endoscopy. GER was determined in heartburn and non-heartburn patients and dyspepsia symptoms in heartburn GER and non-heartburn GER. RESULTS: Heartburn was reported by 40%, GER was present in 62.5% of them vs. 29.2% of the non-heartburn (p = 0.037). Accordingly, 37.5% of those reporting heartburn had FH, for a real prevalence of 15%. Of the non-heartburn GER, 43.0% reported dyspepsia symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with heartburn by Rome II Spanish-Mexico, GER must be ruled out. GER is also present in a subset of non heartburn patients manifested by dyspepsia symptoms.