The Study of Association between Laryngopharyngeal Reflux and Vocal Fold Leukoplakia Requires Pepsin and Bile Salt Tissue Analyses.

The authors performed hypopharyngeal-esophageal multichannel intraluminal impedance-pH monitoring (HEMII-pH) in patients with vocal fold leukoplakia (VFL) to evaluate the prevalence of laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR). The detection of pepsin and other gastroduodenal enzymes in VFL is the missing element to really support more than a simple association between pharyngeal reflux events and the development of VFL. [Extracted from the article]