Prevalence of reflux in 113 consecutive patients with laryngeal and voice disorders.

OBJECTIVES The goal was to estimate the prevalence of laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR) in patients with laryngeal and voice disorders. STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING This was a prospective study of 113 unselected, new patients with laryngeal and voice disorders. Patients completed an extensive medical history form including a reflux symptom profile. A comprehensive otolaryngologic examination was performed with photographic transnasal fiberoptic laryngoscopy. Patients with both symptoms and findings of LPR (78/133, 69%) underwent ambulatory 24-hour double-probe pH monitoring. RESULTS Seventy-three percent (57/78) of patients undergoing pH testing had abnormal studies. Thus 50% (57/113) of the entire the study population had pH-documented reflux. Of the diagnostic sub-groups studied, the highest incidence of reflux was found in patients with vocal cord neoplastic lesions (88%) and patients with muscle tension dysphonias (70%). LPR was infrequently found in patients with neuromuscular disorders. CONCLUSION LPR occurs in at least 50% of all patients at our center with laryngeal and voice disorders at presentation.