Abstract
In this study, we examined the advantages of hypopharyngeal fiberscopy. A hypopharyngeal fiberscope has the tip covered with plastic transparent hood that enables one to avoid the so-called red-ball phenomenon. This undesirable phenomenon occurs when observation becomes impossible due to the mucous membrane adhering to the tip of the scope. With the hypopharyngeal fiberscope, the esophageal inlet and the deep part of piriform sinus can be clearly observed much more readily than with a conventional laryngeal fiberscope. Hypopharyngeal fiberscopy was performed on 117 patients whose chief complaint was abnormal sensations in the laryngopharynx (ASL), particularly those who had no clinical findings from laryngeal fiberscopy. The patients were examined between June 2001 and December 2002. Details of the study are as follows :
1) Eighty-four males and thirty-three females were studied. Hypopharyngeal fiberscopy was often performed in the 6th and 5th decades of life for both genders.
2) Cancer was found in 6 of 117 patients studied by hypopharyngeal fiberscopic observation, a prevalence rate of 5%. Two of those had hypopharyngeal cancer and the remaining four had esophageal cancer.
3) Ectopic gastric mucosa was found in the esophagus of 19% of 117 patients who underwent hypopharyngeal fiberscopy. Compared to the incidence of ectopic gastric mucosa diagnosed by esophagogastroscopy in general, 19% was much higher. These findings support that abnormal sensa-tions in the laryngopharynx (ASL) may be caused by ectopic gastric mucosa.
