Laryngopharyngeal reflux in patients with reflux esophagitis.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the prevalence of laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR) in patients with reflux esophagitis and disclose factors contributing to the development of LPR.


METHODS
A total of 167 patients who proved to have reflux esophagitis by endoscopy were enrolled. They received laryngoscopy to grade the reflux findings for the diagnosis of LPR. We used validated questionnaires to identify the presence of laryngopharyngeal symptoms, and stringent criteria of inclusion to increase the specificity of laryngoscopic findings. The data of patients were analyzed statistically to find out factors related to LPR.


RESULTS
The prevalence rate of LPR in studied subjects with reflux esophagitis was 23.9%. Age, hoarseness and hiatus hernia were factors significantly associated with LPR. In 23 patients with a hiatus hernia, the group with LPR was found to have a lower trend of esophagitis grading.


CONCLUSIONS
Laryngopharyngeal reflux is present in patients with reflux esophagitis, and three predicting factors were identified. However, the development of LPR might be different from that of reflux esophagitis. The importance of hiatus hernia deserves further study.
Lai
Yung-Chih
YC
Department of Internal Medicine, Cathay General Hospital, Taiwan, China. yungchihlai@hotmail.com
Wang
Pa-Chun
PC
Lin
Jun-Chen
JC
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004942:Esophagitis, Peptic / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006551:Hernia, Hiatal / Q000503:physiopathology; D006685:Hoarseness / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D007013:Hypopharynx / Q000503:physiopathology*; D007818:Laryngeal Diseases / Q000150:complications; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010608:Pharyngeal Diseases / Q000150:complications; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D015995:Prevalence