Is the pepsin immunohistochemical staining of laryngeal lesions an available way for diagnosing laryngopharyngeal reflux.

Backgound: Pepsin immunohistochemical (IHC) staining is a promising diagnostic approach of laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR). The interarytenoid mucosa has been proved to be an effective biopsy area.

Objectives

To investigate whether positive result of pepsin IHC staining in laryngeal lesions can predict LPR.

Methods

The study included 136 patients with laryngeal cancer or vocal cord leukoplakia. 24 h multichannel intraluminal impedance-pH (MII-pH) was performed before operation, and pepsin IHC staining was performed on pathological sections after operation. The results of the two methods were compared.

Results

Among the 136 patients, 101 with at least one LPR event were regarded as MII-pH positive group, and another 35 were negative. The positive rate of pepsin IHC staining was 93.1% in MII-pH positive group and 54.1% in MII-pH negative group (p < .05). If the MII-pH results were used as a reference, the sensitivity and specificity of pepsin IHC staining in the diagnosis of LPR were 93.1 and 45.7%, respectively. The consistency of pepsin IHC and MII-pH was moderate (Kappa value = 0.452).

Conclusions

The sensitivity of pepsin IHC staining in laryngeal lesions for diagnosing LPR is satisfactory. The existence of false negative of MII-pH may be the main reason for the low specificity.