van der Pol et al developed a Reflux Finding Score for Infants (RFS-I) for evaluating an infant for laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR). The authors are from Emma Children’s Hospital, Academic Medical Center Amsterdam and the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam in the Netherlands.
Patient selection: infants (up to 70 weeks)
Evaluation: flexible laryngoscopy
Parameters:
(1) edema and erythema of the larynx
(2) vocal cord visibility
(3) endolaryngeal mucus
Parameter
Finding
Points
edema and erythema
none
0
postcricoid region
2
diffuse
4
visibility of vocal cords
absent
0
present
2
endolaryngeal mucus
absent
0
present
2
total score =
= SUM(points for all 3 parameters)
Interpretation:
• minimum score: 0
• maximum score: 8
• The higher the score the more severe the findings.
Limitations:
• The score showed significant inter- and intra-observer variability. The authors cautioned that the score should not be used alone to evaluate an infant for laryngopharyngeal reflux or to guide treatment.
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