Predictive Value of Subjective and Objective Measurement Tools for Extraesophageal Reflux

Acid reflux can cause many symptoms in the throat, including discomfort or pain, and difficulty with breathing and voice problems. Doctors have different ways of diagnosing and treating the reflux that causes these symptoms, and they are trying to better understand what the best ways are to treat the patients with these symptoms. Usually, a doctor will prescribe medication for reflux based on the symptoms a patient complains of. Sometimes it works and the patient gets better, sometimes it does not work and the patient's condition does not improve. The doctor will also use findings from an examination with an endoscope in the patient's throat to see if there is any damage that might have been caused by reflux. One new device that doctors use to help them diagnose reflux has a sensor on the end of a tube that goes through the nose and rests in the throat. This sensor measures the acid reflux for 24 hours, showing the doctor when acid reflux occurs. The study doctors are performing this research study to help them understand more about acid reflux disease, and the best ways to diagnose and treat their patients who have acid reflux. The study involves procedures, medications and devices that are already used regularly in doctors' offices and hospitals. The experimental part of this research is blinding the study doctor to the results of the pH study until the end of a three month course of antireflux medication, and performing a second pH study to measure change in acid exposure. Hypothesis: The Restech pH study helps identify patients who will respond positively to acid inhibitory therapy, and patients whose study normalizes will have better Symptomatic response rates than those whose pH levels fail to normalize.