Gastroesophageal reflux as a cause of idiopathic subglottic stenosis

Abstract

Aim: Investigate the possibility that gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is related to the development of subglottic stenosis (SGS) and is the likely cause in cases previously determined as unknown or idiopathic. Methods: Ten patients presented with subglottic stenosis. None had a previous history of trauma, intubation, granulomatous disease, or other disorder that causes SGS. There were nine females and one male, with an age range of 36 to 66 years. Results: The nine female patients were evaluated by an esophagram in all cases, pH monitoring in seven, and esophagoscopy in three. The one male patient was lost to follow-up and not studied. Six patients had abnormal results on studies indicative of GERD and three patients had normal examination results. As a group, there were 25 procedures for repair of SGS before the start of anti-reflux therapy and 11 afterwards, with follow-up a minimum of 1 year up to 8 years. The interval time between repairs was greatly lengthened after anti-reflux therapy was instituted. Discussion: There are suggestions that GERD contributes to the severity of most cases of acquired SGS. Based on results of the tests and responses to anti-reflux therapy, it is likely that GERD causes SGS in previously categorized idiopathic cases.