Barrett's esophagus and its correlation with gastroesophageal reflux in Chinese.
OBJECTIVE
To study the prevalence of Barrett's esophagus in Chinese and its correlation with gastroesophageal reflux.


METHODS
This study was carried out in a large prospective series of 391 patients who had undergone upper endoscopy. The patients were divided into 3 groups according to the position of squamocolumnar junction (SCJ). Reflux esophagitis (RE) and its degree were recorded. Intestinal metaplasia (IM) in biopsy specimen was typed according to histochemistry and HE and alcian blue (pH2.5) staining separately. Results correlating with clinical, endoscopic, and pathological data were analysed.


RESULTS
The prevalence of IM endoscopically appearing Long-segment Barrett's Esophagus (LSBE) was 26.53%, Short-segment Barrett's Esophagus (SSBE) was 33.85% and gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) was 34.00%. IM increased with age of above 40 years old and no difference was found between male and female. Twelve were diagnosed as dysplasia (7 low-grade, 5 high-grade), 16 were diagnosed as cardiac adenocarcinoma and 1 as esophageal adenocarcinoma. The more far away the SCJ moved upward above GEJ, the higher the prevalence and the more severe the RE were.


CONCLUSIONS
There was no difference of the prevalence of IM in different places of SCJ, and IM increased with age of above 40 years old. It is important to pay attention to dysplasia in the distal esophagus and gastro-esophageal junction, and adenocarcinoma is more common in cardia than in esophagus. BE is a consequence of gastroesophageal reflux disease.
Zhang
Jun
J
Department of Gastroenterology, Second Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710004, Shaanxi Province, China. jun3z@163.com
Chen
Xiao-Li
XL
Wang
Kang-Min
KM
Guo
Xiao-Dan
XD
Zuo
Ai-Li
AL
Gong
Jun
J
D044466:Asian People; D001471:Barrett Esophagus / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D016145:Endoscopy, Digestive System; D005260:Female; D005764:Gastroesophageal Reflux / Q000150:complications*; D006801:Humans; D007422:Intestines / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008679:Metaplasia; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D011446:Prospective Studies