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Globus sensation as early presentation of hypopharyngeal cancer
A Tsikoudas1, N Ghuman, M A Riad
1Department of Otolarygology, Ninewells Hospital & Medical School, Dundee, UK. atsikoudas@yahoo.co.uk
Objectives:
To identify if patients with early hypopharyngeal carcinoma can present with only the single complaint of globus sensation.
Design:
Retrospective case review.
Setting:
Teaching Hospital in Scotland.
Participants:
Cohort of 23 patients with hypopharyngeal carcinoma. Retrospective review of their case notes with regards to their hospital pathway from initial referral from the General Practitioner to diagnosis.
Outcome Measures:
Symptoms & signs on presentation, subsequent investigations and time interval between initial presentation and diagnosis.
Results:
We identified two patients (9%) who presented early with globus or other soft symptoms as the only complaint and with normal clinical findings. There was a 78%'pick up' rate of abnormalities in the barium swallow examination.
Conclusion:
We believe this can have important clinical implications in the screening & investigation of globus patients who represent a significant outpatient workload. We review the relevant literature.
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