Globus sensation as early presentation of hypopharyngeal cancer.

OBJECTIVES: To identify if patients with early hypopharyngeal carcinoma can present with only the single complaint of globus sensation.
DESIGN: Retrospective case review.
SETTING: Teaching Hospital in Scotland. PARTICIPANTS: Cohort of 23 patients with hypopharyngeal carcinoma. Retrospective review of their case notes with regards to their hospital pathway from initial referral from the General Practitioner to diagnosis. OUTCOME MEASURES: Symptoms & signs on presentation, subsequent investigations and time interval between initial presentation and diagnosis.
RESULTS: We identified two patients (9%) who presented early with globus or other soft symptoms as the only complaint and with normal clinical findings. There was a 78%'pick up' rate of abnormalities in the barium swallow examination.
CONCLUSION: We believe this can have important clinical implications in the screening & investigation of globus patients who represent a significant outpatient workload. We review the relevant literature.