Vol.101 No.3 contentsPRACTICA OTO-RHINO-LARYNGOLOGICA
Vol. 101 No. 3 March 2008
Four Patients with Esophageal Candidosis Presented
with Foreign Body Sensation of the Larynx
Hiromi Nagano and Kousuke Yoshifuku
(Ooshima Prefecture Hospital)
Yuichi Kurono
(Kagoshima University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences)
Esophageal candidosis is not a rare disease. It is caused by Candida albicans, which is normally indigenous in the oral cavity and the large intestine, but becomes pathogenic due to ingestion of antibiotics, steroids and immunosuppressants, complication of malignant tumors, and HIV infection.
We encountered 4 patients who consulted our hospital with a chief complaint of foreign body sensation of the larynx and were diagnosed with esophageal candidosis by upper gastrointestinal endoscopy. The patients were a 79-year-old woman with diabetes as an underlying disease, a 69-year-old man with laryngeal cancer (after radiotherapy), a 54-year-old man with laryngeal cancer (after laryngectomy), and a 46-year-old woman with no underlying disease. The clinical symptoms resolved rapidly within 1 month following oral administration of antifungal agents.
Key words :esophageal candidosis, foreign body sensation of the larynx, upper gastrointestinal endoscopy