Table 1.
Definitions of gastro-oesophageal reflux subtypes according to endoscopy and pH (or pH-impedance) monitoring and Rome III definitions4
| Erosive reflux disease: patients with mucosal breaks at endoscopy |
| Non-erosive reflux disease: patients without any mucosal break at endoscopy and abnormal oesophageal acid exposure at 24-h oesophageal pH monitoring |
| Hypersensitive oesophagus: patients without any mucosal break at endoscopy, normal oesophageal acid exposure and positive symptom–reflux association analysis (SI >50%, SAP >95%) |
| Functional heartburn: patients with heartburn refractory to PPIs, without any mucosal break at endoscopy, normal oesophageal acid exposure and negative symptom reflux association analysis (symptom index <50%, symptom association probability <95%) at 24-h oesophageal pH monitoring |
| Weakly acidic reflux: gastro-oesophageal reflux episode detected by oesophageal impedance and associated with an oesophageal pH between 4 and 7 |
| Weakly alkaline reflux: gastro-oesophageal reflux episode detected by oesophageal impedance and associated with an oesophageal pH above 7 |
| Non-acid reflux: usually refers to all reflux episodes detected by oesophageal impedance without any pH drop below 4 (include weakly acidic and weakly alkaline reflux) |
PPI, proton pump inhibitor; SAP, symptom association probability; SI, symptom index.