Laryngopharyngeal reflux in patients with reflux esophagitis

AIM: To assess the prevalence of laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR) in patients with reflux esophagitis and dis-close 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 find-ings for the diagnosis of LPR. We used validated ques-tionnaires to identify the presence of laryngopharyn-geal 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 sub-jects with reflux esophagitis was 23.9%. Age, hoarse- ness and hiatus hernia were factors significantly as-sociated with LPR. In 23 patients with a hiatus hernia, the group with LPR was found to have a lower trend of esophagitis grading. CONCLUSION: 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 esophagi-tis. The importance of hiatus hernia deserves further study.