Allergic inflammation may affect both the upper and lowerairways1 and allergic diseases may have a significant negative impact on the quality of life and the individual'sproductivity.2---4 Allergic rhinitis affects at least 20% of theAmerican population5 and the prevalence rates are increasing. The relationship between upper and lower airwayinflammatory diseases is increasingly recognized and hasbeen described as a unified airway.1,6 The concept of a uni-fied airway is described as an inflammatory alteration inone part of the airway that causes inflammatory responsesin other segments of the airway.1,6,7 Although the unifiedairway is well studied and described, the relationship ofallergic disease and laryngeal symptoms and the role ofallergy in chronic laryngitis is still poorly described andcontroversial.8 Recent studies have proposed that allergymay cause dysphonia by direct inflammation, trafficking ofmucus through the upper or lower airway larynx, and compensatory behaviors such as cough that causes laryngealedema.9.
展开▼
