Investigation of the Association Between Nasal Polyposis and Extraesophageal Reflux Disease

Although nasal polyposis has been recognized as an inflammatory process for many years, the true etiology of nasal polyposis mainly unknown. Despite surgical removal, the recurrence rate after surgery has been reported as high as 87% within the first year after surgery. Anecdotally the Principal Investigator found an incidence of pH probe-proven laryngopharyngeal reflux approaching 80% in his patients with nasal polyposis. Although his number of cases was small, the incidence of recurrence of polyps in these patients was 17%. The PI believes that such an association is too great to be explained by chance alone, and deserves further study. He anticipates two contributions to the literature from this study, the first documenting the incidence of extraesophageal (laryngopharyngeal) reflux in patients with polyposis, and the second showing the impact of reflux treatment on the recurrence rate of the polyps, initially after one year of therapy.