Sixteen stroke patients were examined using a Degitrapper pH400 (Medtronic Japan Co., Tokyo, Japan) and Zinetics 24ME multiuse pH catheter (Medtronic). All patients had stroke lesions in the territory of the left or right middle cerebral artery that were confirmed by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and were receiving PEG or nasogastric feeding. Stroke volume was measured with MRIcron software.
Nine patients (56 % ) were diagnosed with GER, and 10 (63 % ) developed aspiration pneumonia after enteral feeding. The rate of aspiration pneumonia was significantly higher in patients with GER (88.9 % ) than in those without GER (42.9 % ; P = .04). Patients with left hemispheric lesions had a significantly higher incidence of acid reflex than those with right lesions (116 ¡À 105 vs 13?¡À 17; P = .04). There were no significant differences in total time of acid reflux or mean pH value between patients with left and right hemispheric lesions. The lesion volume had no significant effect on any of 3 indices of GER.
GER is associated with aspiration pneumonia and occurs more often in patients with stroke lesions in the left hemisphere.