Laryngopharyngeal Reflux Disease and Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease Can Mutually Influence

To investigate the mutually relationship between gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and laryngopharyngeal reflux disease (LPRD).

All included patients completed simultaneous 24-hour hypopharyngeal intraluminal multichannel impedance pH monitoring (24h-MII-pH), Reflux Symptom Index (RSI), and Reflux Finding Score (RFS). The LPRD diagnosis was based on the occurrence of ≥1 acid or non-acid hypopharyngeal proximal reflux episode(HRE), GERD was defined as a length of time >4.0% of the 24-hour recording spent below pH 4.0 or a DeMeester score >14.72. Patients with both positive LPRD and GERD were classified as LPRD & GERD group, patients with positive LPRD and negative GERD were classified as ILPRD group, patients with negative LPRD and positive GERD were classified as IGERD group, and patients with both negative LPRD and GERD were classified as N group. The differences in clinical characteristics of reflux between the groups were statistically analyzed.

A total of 437 patients were included, including 248 (56.75%) in the ILPRD group, 98 (22.43%) in the LPRD & GERD group, 23 (5.26%) in the IGERD group, and 68 (15.56%) in the N group. There was no significant difference between the types of gastroesophageal reflux in patients with GERD. The number of weak acid/acid/gas/liquid HREs was significantly more in LPRD & GERD patients than in ILPRD patients (P < 0.01), and the number of distal acid reflux events and Longest distal acid clearance time were significantly higher in LPRD & GERD patients than in IGERD patients (P > 0.01).

GERD and LPRD are not the same disease but can mutually influence. Combined GERD increased all types of laryngopharyngeal reflux events in patients with LPRD, whereas combined LPRD only increased acidic distal reflux events and acid clearance time in patients with GERD.