Comparison of mutual associations and sensitivity of individual diagnostic methods in the process of identification of extraesophageal reflux

Introduction: Extraesophageal refl ux is relatively common in ENT outpatient offi ces. The aim of the study is to compare the mutual associations and sensitivity of individual dia gnostic methods in the process of identifi cation of extraesophageal refl ux (Refl ux Symptom Index – RSI, Refl ux Finding Score – RFS, oropharyngeal pH-metry RESTECH Dx-pH System, dia gnostic-therapeutic test – DTT). Material and methods: The study included 30 patients. In 20 of them refl ux was demostrated by oropharyngeal pH-metry, in 10 the pH-metry was negative. Each patient completed an RSI questionnaire, underwent video-laryngoscopic examination, oropharyngeal pH measurement RESTECH Dx-pH System and dia gnostic-therapeutic test using proton pump inhibitors for 3 months regardless of the result of oropharyngeal pH-metry. The tolerance of the oropharyngeal pH-metry RESTECH Dx-pH System was investigated. Another aim was to capture the main trends in the data using descriptive analysis and to obtain general conclusions about the internal relations between individual dia gnostic methods and patient characteristics using inferential analysis. Results: The tolerance of oropharyngeal pH-metry RESTECH Dx-pH System in our patient group was 97.14%. Correlation indices indicate negligible or only very weak associations between the results of individual methods. Based on inference analysis performed by estimating the incidence, up to three double combinations showed the same degree of positivity (82,90%; 95% CI 70,5–95,3%). Namely, they are RSI × DTT, RFS × DTT and pH-metry × DTT. Conclusion: The RESTECH Dx-pH System – oropharyngeal pH-metry is a suitable dia gnostic method in combination with other methods used in the dia gnosis of esophageal refl ux due to the good tolerance by patients. However, its separate use in the dia gnosis of EER is questioned in several other works which can be considered a limitation of the work. The parallel use of subjective and objective dia gnostic methods in combination with a dia gnostic-therapeutic test is a sensitive way of identifying patients with extraesophageal refl ux. Keywords: oropharyngeal pH-metry – diagnostic-therapeutic test – Reflux Finding Score – Reflux Symptom Index – extraesophageal reflux