E-Mail karger@karger.com Original Paper Folia Phoniatr Logop 2013;65:280–287 DOI: 10.1159/000362835 Voice Problems among Laryngopharyngeal Reflux Patients Diagnosed with Oropharyngeal pH Monitoring Tamer A. Mesallam a, d Khalid H. Malki a, b Mohamed Farahat a, b Manal Bukhari c Sami Alharethy d a Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, King Saud University, b Research Chair of Voice, Swallowing, and Communication Disorders and c Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, King Abdulaziz University Hospital, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; d Otolaryngology Department, College of Medicine, Al-Menoufiya University, Shebin Al-Koum, Egypt two groups regarding clinical presentation, RFS or acoustic measures. Significant positive correlations were found be- tween the Ryan composite measurements and both sever- ity ratings (VHI-10, RSI). Conclusion: LPR clinical presenta- tion appears to be non-specific in terms of symptoms and laryngeal findings. LPR appears to have an effect on the pa- tients’ self-perception of voice problems. Further studies are needed to clarify the effect of LPR on acoustic measure- ments. © 2014 S. Karger AG, Basel Introduction Laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR) and its effect on the upper aerodigestive tract have been the interest of many researchers for years. However, a lack of consensus re- mains regarding the clinical presentation of LPR [1]. Key Words Laryngopharyngeal reflux · Oropharyngeal pH · Voice problems Abstract Background and Objectives: There is a lack of consensus regarding the clinical presentation and diagnosis of laryn- gopharyngeal reflux (LPR). The aim of this study was to ex- plore voice-related abnormalities in a group of LPR patients, diagnosed with a 24-hour oropharyngeal pH monitoring. Patients and Methods: Eighty-two patients with voice-re- lated problems participated in the study. Diagnosis of LPR was made using a 24-hour oropharyngeal pH monitoring. Patients were divided accordingly into positive and nega- tive pH groups. Comparisons between the two groups were done, including results of clinical presentation, Voice Hand- icap Index-10 (VHI-10), reflux symptom index (RSI), reflux finding score (RFS), and acoustic measurements. The corre- lation was conducted between Ryan scores and other vari- ables including VHI-10, RSI, and RFS. Results: Significant dif- ferences were found between the two groups for RSI and VHI-10. No significant differences were found between the Published online: May 24, 2014 Tamer A. Mesallam, MD, PhD ENT Department, Communication and Swallowing Disorders Unit (CSDU) King Abdulaziz University Hospital PO Box 245, Riyadh 11411 (Saudi Arabia) E-Mail tmesallam  @  ksu.edu.sa © 2014 S. Karger AG, Basel 1021–7762/14/0656–0280$39.50/0 www.karger.com/fpl Institution to which the work is attributed: Department of Otolaryngology, Research Chair of Voice, Swallowing, and Communication Disorders, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.