Pulmonary functional in patients with gastroesophageal reflux.

Gastroesophageal reflux has been suggested to play a causal role in a variety of chronic pulmonary disorders. This hypothesis has been supported by the increased incidence of reflux in patients with idiopathic pulmonary disorders and by the anecdotal reports of symptomatic improvement following surgical correction of the reflux. In an effort to determine whether patients with reflux as a group demonstrated a significant degree of pulmonary dysfunction, 100 patients with reflux were compared with another group of 100 control patients, matched for age and sex and without demonstrable reflux. Standard pulmonary function studies were used for this comparison. No difference could be detected between the two groups, which suggested that the isolated findings of reflux in patients with pulmonary disorders should not be considered etiologic by virtue of the association alone. Alternate explanations for the relationship are given.