RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Silent microaspiration in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: The role of videolaryngoscopy
JF European Respiratory Journal
JO Eur Respir J
FD European Respiratory Society
SP P3152
VO 40
IS Suppl 56
A1 Rossi, Emanuela
A1 Floriani, Ariel
A1 Rinaldo, Claudia
A1 Nannini, Nazarena
A1 Marulli, Giuseppe
A1 Loy, Monica
A1 Rea, Federico
A1 Calabrese, Fiorella
A1 Balestro, Elisabetta
YR 2012
UL http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/40/Suppl_56/P3152.abstract
AB 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.