Spectrum of dysphagia Etiologies in North India; A Prospective Study from a Tertiary Health Center

ABSTRACT

Background:Dysphagia is a commonly encountered clinical problem & limited data exist regarding the spectrum of dysphagia etiologies in this region. Our aim was to access the spectrum of dysphagia etiologies in North India. Methods: This was a prospective analysis of data collected over a period of four years for patients presented with complaint of dysphagia. All consenting patients presented with dysphagia irrespective of age, sex, duration and etiology of dysphagia were enrolled. After detail history, clinical examination and base line investigations, all patients underwent upper GI endoscopy, findings were noted and biopsy taken in case of pathological lesion found during endoscopy.Results:A total of 58 patients presented with symptoms of dysphagia were enrolled in this study. Among these patients 37 were male and 21 were female and age ranges from 17- 100 years. Thirty one patients were diagnosed to have benign pathology, four had moderate to severe dysplasia and 23 were diagnosed to have malignant pathology. Most common benign etiology was GERD and most common malignant etiology was squamous cell carcinoma. Conclusion: Squamous cell carcinoma and GERD are two most common etiologies for dysphagia in our study group. Dysphagia was more common in males and malignant dysphagia was more in elderly smokers and naswar users.