[Diagnosis of gastroesophageal reflux: ultrasonographic method].

In this study, 63 infants, 38 males and 25 females, with pathology that suggested gastro-esophageal reflux, were studied. These patients were between one month and 7-1/2 years of age, with a mean age of 29 months and a standard deviation of 28.1 months. All patients underwent a barium study of the esophagus and the stomach, evaluated according to the criteria of Cleveland, an esophageal scintigram to detect GER, performed according to the criteria of Fernández and Argüelles, and an abdominal echography according to the technique of Naik and Moore. The test was considered a true positive if the echography was positive along with one other positive examination. A false positive was considered if only the echography were positive. A true negative was when the echography was negative along with another negative test. A false negative was when the echography was negative and some other test was positive. The following results were obtained for the echography: a sensitivity of 68%, a specificity of 84.61% and a safety factor of 71.2%. We conclude that echography can be considered as a complimentary examination for the study of GER, given it harmless nature, the availability of the equipment and the possibility of prolonging the exploration which can be recorded on videotape.