To explore the distribution characteristics and clinical significance of gastroesophageal flap valve(GEFV)classification in patients with reflux esophagitis(RE)with extraesophageal symptoms.

A total of 554 patients with RE who were diagnosed by endoscopy in Departments of Gastroenterology, Respiratory and Otolaryngology of Liaocheng People′s Hospital and Jinan Central Hospital were selected.All patients were divided into control group and experimental group according to whether accompanied by extraesophageal symptoms(reflux laryngitis, reflux cough, reflux asthma). The relationships between different age groups and abnormal detection rate of GEFV and the incidence of RE with extraesophageal symptoms, and the relationship between GEFV classification and the incidence of RE with extraesophageal symptoms were analyzed.

The increase of age was positively correlated with the incidences of abnormal GEFV and extraesophageal symptoms(r=0.111, P=0.01; r=0.129, P=0.01). The incidence of hiatal hernia increased with GEFV grade.The incidence of extraesophageal symptoms in abnormal GEFV group was significantly higher than that in normal GEFV group(42.95% vs.13.07%). The incidence of abnormal GEFV in the experimental group was higher than that in the control group(56.30% vs.20.46%, P=0.04). The incidence of extraesophageal symptoms increased with GEFV classification and was positively correlated with GEFV classification(χ²=6.502, P=0.01; r=0.286, P=0.015). Extraesophageal symptoms in severe RE group were higher than those in mild RE group(48.51% vs.12.86%). The incidence of extraesophageal symptoms was positively correlated with RE grade(r=0.291, P<0.05).

GEFV classification can be used as a risk index for predicting extraesophageal symptoms in reflux esophagitis, and has certain predictive value in clinical diagnosis and treatment.