concurrence of vesicoureteral reflux and gastroesophageal reflux disease in children

Background: there is anecdotal evidence regarding the simultaneous occurrence of vesicoureteral reflux (vur) and gastroesophageal reflux disease (gerd), which indicates the probability of pathophysiological commonality. objectives: in the present study, we evaluated the concurrence of vur and gerd in children candidates for the voiding cystourethrogram (vcug) study. methods: this cross-sectional study was conducted on 62 children between 1 and 14 years old referred to a tertiary referral teaching hospital for vcug in 2019 - 2020. all subjects underwent ultrasound to assess gerd and vcug to rule out vur. results: according to the ultrasound assessment, 14.5% of subjects were diagnosed with gerd: 8.3% in males and 18.4% in females. vurwas detected in 48.4% of children (50.0% in males and 47.4% in females) using vcug. overall, seven (23.3%) had concomitantvur and gerd: 4.2% in boys and 15.8% in girls, indicating no difference between the two genders (p = 0.125). the prevalence of concurrent gerd and vur was also independent of age. in the two groups with and without vur, the prevalence of gerd was 23.3% and 6.2%, respectively, indicating a relative risk of 2 (95% confidence interval [ci]: 1.32 - 3.02, p = 0.001). conclusions: regarding the relationship between gerd and vur, despite the deletion of physiologic ger cases, the pathophysiological overlap between the two phenomena could be considered.