gastroesophagial reflux disease and asthma in pregnant women with dyspnea.

asthma and  gastroesophageal reflux disease (gerd)  are two  common  problems  in pregnancy and they affect pregnancy in several ways. in this study, we aimed to evaluate gerd and asthma in pregnant women who referred for prenatal care visits. one-hundred  and seventy three  pregnant  women with a complaint of  dyspnea were included in the study. a questionnaire was filled and lung function tests were performed. all patients  were visited by a respiratory specialist and  questionnaires were evaluated by a gastroenterologist. out  of the total number of women studied, 37% were diagnosed to have asthma and 36.4% were non-asthmatics. twenty six percent of the pregnant women who had symptoms and signs of asthma with normal spirometry were classified as probable to have asthma. gerd was diagnosed in 80.9% of the pregnant women, but it was not significantly higher in asthmatic or probable asthmatic women compared to non-asthmatic ones. however, severity of gerd was significantly higher in asthmatic pregnant women compared to the others. in conclusion, the prevalence of gerd  was quite high in pregnant women, irrespective of the fact that they were asthmatic or non-asthmatic. further studies evaluating women throughout pregnancy will inform us more about this relationship.