Screening Symptoms and Signs of Gastroesophageal Reflux in the Egyptian Patients with Minimal Associated Pathological Lesions and Non-Organic Voice Disorders

Abstract

This study was a screening study aimed to screen voice patients with MAPLs and with non-organic voice disorders for the symptoms and signs of LPR, which is one of the extraesophageal symptoms of GERD. The results of this study indicate that 24% of patients with MAPLs versus only 6% of the patients with non-organic voice disorders were suspected to have LPR. These patients were found to have high scores in A-RSI and RFS that screen LPR symptoms and signs, respectively. The suspicion of LPR could not depend on one tool only because of the lack of gold-standard diagnostic measures for LPR. A combination of different procedures to confirm the clinical suspicion of GER/LPR is needed, including the patient’s symptoms, the laryngeal findings (by videoendolaryngoscopy), and reflux testing measures such as dual probe (pharyngeal and esophageal) 24-pH monitoring and esophagogastroscopy. This study found no relationship between symptoms and signs of LPR as assessed by A-RSI and the RFS respectively, and neither the MAPLs nor the non-organic voice disorders. There is no relationship between the onset of the voice complaints among the participated patients in each of the two groups (MAPLs, and non-organic voice disorders). Moreover, there was no correlation between the scores of the A-RSI and the RFS and the severity of the dysphonia (assessed by the modified GRBAS scale) among patients with MAPLs. While dysphonia severity in patients with non-organic voice disorders was indirectly related to the signs of LPR only as indicated by scores of RFS.