EFFECT OF OMEPRAZOLE ON THE COURSE OF ASSOCIATED ESOPHAGITIS AND LARYNGITIS

Esophagitis has increasingly been implicated as a cause of chronic lar yngitis and there is some evidence that gastro-esophageal reflux disea se (GERD) is more common in patients with laryngitis. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether patients with esophagitis and laryngitis responded to treatment with omeprazole. Of 74 consecutive patients wi th endoscopically proven GERD, 21 had laryngitis. These 21 patients wi th associated esophagitis and chronic laryngitis were treated for 4 we eks with omeprazole 40 mg per day. After 2 weeks of treatment and at t he conclusion of the study, 2 weeks later, esophagoscopy and laryngosc opy were performed and the patients responded to a questionnaire on th eir symptoms. The follow-up period was 1 year. Twenty-one of the 74 pa tients (28.4%) had esophagitis (grade I, n = 12; grade II, n = 9) and associated laryngitis (grade I, n = 14; grade II, n = 7). The severity of the esophagitis accorded with the severity of the laryngitis. Afte r 2 weeks' treatment with omeprazole, both the esophageal and the lary ngeal symptoms had improved in all 21 patients. Endoscopically, the he aling rates were 62% for esophagitis and 33.3% for laryngitis. At the end of the study period, at 4 weeks, all patients were symptom-free an d the esophagitis and laryngitis had healed completely. No patient suf fered from drug-induced side effects. Patients with associated laryngi tis and esophagitis should be given adequate anti-reflux therapy. Both the laryngeal and esophageal symptoms improved with the omeprazole tr eatment, suggesting that reflux was the underlying etiology.