@article {RossiP3152, author = {Emanuela Rossi and Ariel Floriani and Claudia Rinaldo and Nazarena Nannini and Giuseppe Marulli and Monica Loy and Federico Rea and Fiorella Calabrese and Elisabetta Balestro}, title = {Silent microaspiration in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: The role of videolaryngoscopy}, volume = {40}, number = {Suppl 56}, elocation-id = {P3152}, year = {2012}, publisher = {European Respiratory Society}, abstract = {A strong association between gastroesophageal reflux (GER) and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) has been reported. A significant proportion of patients may have signs of microaspiration and still remain asymptomatic. Videolaringoscopy can be a useful tool to detect silent microaspiration, which to date has never been investigated in IPF. The aim of the study was to assess signs of micro-aspiration by videolaryngoscopy in patients with IPF and to relate them with clinical findings.We recruited 20 IPF patients (mean age 52 + 7 yrs). We investigated the presence/absence of GER symptoms and performed videolaryngoscopy to evaluate abnormal laryngeal findings considered indirect signs of micro-aspiration. Three out of twenty patients (15\%) had classic GER symptoms, while 17 (85\%) did not report any kind of GER symptoms. Among asymptomatic patients, 5 (29\%) had indirect signs of microaspiration at videolaryngoscopy while the remaining twelve had no such signs. Of interest, IPF patients with laryngeal abnormalities at videolaryngoscopy showed a lower FVC\% at the diagnosis compared to patients without such abnormalities [46\%(45-82) vs 75\%(72-87) p=0,03]. Conversely, no differences in age, smoking history and BMI were found between the two groups of patients. In conclusion our study suggests that videolaryngoscopy may be a useful diagnostic tool to detect silent microaspiration in patients with IPF even in the absence of GER symptoms. These findings may have important therapeutic implications.}, issn = {0903-1936}, URL = {https://erj.ersjournals.com/content/40/Suppl_56/P3152}, eprint = {https://erj.ersjournals.com/content/40/Suppl_56/P3152.full.pdf}, journal = {European Respiratory Journal} }