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Saturday, October 13, 2012

Saliva Test for Laryngopharyngeal Reflux (LPR)

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Various groups have been developing a fast, cheap, non-invasive saliva swab test to determine whether laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR) is present or not. LPR may cause symptoms of:
When you compare a spit test to the current way of how reflux is determined via barium swallow, upper endoscopy (EGD), and 24 hour ph/impedance testing, it sounds quite attractive.
How does such a test work?

It basically looks for a stomach protein called pepsin.

Given reflux is when stomach contents moves up towards the mouth and pepsin is a protein ONLY produced in the stomach... pepsin should NOT be found in the throat/mouth.

As such, the test can state yes or no whether LPR is present or not.

How good is the test?

Depending on the study, sensitivity ranges in the 80-100% (can actually detect reflux if truly present) and specificity is around 85% (truly no reflux if test is negative).

Unfortunately, such testing is not offered is most labs. (Currently working on getting such testing available in our office.)

One test company is rdbiomed using their Peptest kit.


References:

Rapid salivary pepsin test: Blinded assessment of test performance in gastroesophageal reflux disease. Laryngoscope. 2012 Jun;122(6):1312-6. doi: 10.1002/lary.23252. Epub 2012 Mar 23.

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