[ENT manifestations of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)]

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) has been associated increasingly with ear, nose, and throat (ENT) signs and symptoms. However, the cause and effect relationship between these two clinical entities are far from established. Many patients diagnosed initially with GERD as the cause of laryngeal signs do not symptomatically or laryngoscopically respond to aggressive acid suppression and do not have abnormal esophageal acid exposure by pH monitoring. The hypothesis that GER causes laryngeal symptoms and conditions remains to be definitively proved. In many patients, the cause of laryngeal symptoms may well be multifactorial, and to identify definitively those patients in which GER may be playing a role remains a challenge. This has resulted in frustration on the part of both gastroenterologists and ENT physicians and confusion on the part of patients. In this article we discuss the recent data.