Different Characteristics of Oropharyngeal pH Changes in Different Laryngeal Diseases

To evaluate the different characteristics of oropharyngeal pH changes in patients with different laryngeal diseases.

A retrospective analysis was performed. The clinical data of 262 patients were summarized. The patients were divided into 4 groups. Group 1 included 123 patients with suspected laryngopharyngeal reflux disease (LPRD). Group 2 included 45 patients with vocal cord polyps. Group 3 included 40 patients with vocal cord leukoplakia. Group 4 included 54 patients with laryngeal carcinoma. Their reflux symptom indexes (RSIs), reflux finding scores (RFSs), and Dx-pH monitoring results were compared.

In total, 235 patients had abnormal RSI/RFS, 90 patients had abnormal Ryan scores. The rate of abnormal RSI/RFS of Group 1 was significantly higher than that of Group 4 (P = .001). Significant differences of the rates of abnormal Ryan scores existed between Groups 2 and 4 (P = .021) and Groups 3 and 4 (P = .027). There were obvious differences in upright Ryan scores between Groups 1 and 2 (P = .013), Groups 1 and 3 (P = .002), Groups 2 and 4 (P = .046), and Groups 3 and 4 (P = .009). There were significant differences in time percentage of oropharyngeal pH of upright 5.5∼6.5 and supine 5.0∼6.5 between Groups 1 and 3 as well as Groups 1 and 4 (upright: Groups 1 and 3: P = .017; Groups 1 and 4: P = .019. Supine: Groups 1 and 3: P = .018; Groups 1 and 4: P = .023).

There were different oropharyngeal pH characteristics in patients with different laryngeal diseases, which indicated laryngopharyngeal reflux may play different roles in different diseases through various patterns. Patients with vocal cord polyps, vocal cord leukoplakia, and laryngeal carcinoma had more and different patterns of oropharyngeal pH change than patients with LPRD. Patients with vocal cord polyps and vocal cord leukoplakia had more severe acid oropharyngeal pH change episodes than patients with laryngeal carcinoma.