Correspondence (letter to the editor): Laryngopharyngeal Reflux

The author is to be commended for his detailed presentation of the main gastro-esophageal diseases that are treated with proton-pump inhibitors (PPI) (1). Extra-esophageal conditions such as asthma and nonspecific cough also belong to the spectrum of indications but are only touched upon briefly. There is no mention at all of laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR), a further extra-esophageal condition whose incidence is already high and still rising. Laryngeal mucosal irritation due to reflux is a common finding in otolaryngological practice, and the role of PPI in treating LPR should not be left out of any review of the subject. LPR can cause chronic laryngitis, laryngeal granulomas, and contact ulcers. The role of PPI in the treatment of chronic laryngitis and simultaneous reflux disease was discussed in Deutsches Ärzteblatt International in 2015 (2). PPI are probably an effective treatment for LPR (3); the apparent lack of efficacy in a number of studies is likely to have been caused by indiscriminate diagnosis of the condition (4).