The natural history of globus pharyngeus

While globus pharyngeus is a common disorder, accounting for 3% to 4% of new otolaryngology outpatient referrals, few long-term follow-up studies have been conducted on patients with this condition. The authors of this study followed 74 patients with a diagnosis of globus pharyngeus for an average of 7 years, 7 months (range: 7 years to 8 years, 10 months). During the follow-up period, 55% of patients were asymptomatic and 45% of patients had persistent symptoms. An in-depth analysis of features at clinical presentation failed to reveal any reliable prognostic indicators. A number of patients developed other conditions during the follow-up period, but no patient developed upper aerodigestive tract malignancy. This study represents the longest follow-up of globus patients to date and, to the authors' knowledge, is the first to address the issue of malignancy in globus.