title: African Americans with Barrett's esophagus are less likely to have dysplasia at biopsy.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Barrett's Esophagus (BE) is a pre-malignant condition. Limited data on BE dysplasia prevalence exists among United States ethnic groups.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to determine if the frequency of BE with dysplasia varies among the major ethnic groups presenting to our institution.
  
  
  METHODS
  The University of Florida-Jacksonville endoscopy database was searched for all cases of endoscopic BE from September 2002 to August 2007. Histologic BE was diagnosed if salmon colored esophageal mucosa was endoscopically seen at least 1 cm above the top of the gastric folds and biopsy revealed intestinal metaplasia with Alcian blue-containing goblet cells. Demographic data collected for all included: age at diagnosis, ethnicity, sex, previous history of esophageal reflux, atypical manifestations (chronic cough, aspiration), endoscopic length of BE, presence or absence of hiatal hernia, esophageal stricture or ulcer, and presence or absence of dysplasia.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Salmon colored esophageal mucosa was observed in 405 of 7,308 patients (5.5%) and histologically confirmed in 115 of 405 patients (28%) reflecting an overall prevalence of BE of 115/7308 (1.6%) in this cohort. Ethnic distribution of histologic BE patients was as follows: 95 (83%) non-Hispanic white (nHw), 16 (14%) African American (AA) and 4 (3%) other. Long segment BE (LSBE) and any form of dysplasia was observed less frequently in AA than nHw (LSBE: 12% vs. 26% and dysplasia: 0% vs. 7%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  LSBE and dysplasia are less frequent in AA than nHw. Studies in AA with BE may illustrate factors limiting dysplasia and LSBE risk.
authors: Division of Gastroenterology, University of Florida/Jacksonville, Jacksonville, FL, USA.
authors: Joe E
authors: JE
authors: Khoury
authors: Sian
authors: S
authors: Chisholm
authors: M Mazen
authors: MM
authors: Jamal
authors: Carlos
authors: C
authors: Palacio
authors: Sunitha
authors: S
authors: Pudhota
authors: Kenneth J
authors: KJ
authors: Vega
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American; D000368:Aged; D001471:Barrett Esophagus / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000473:pathology; D004945:Esophagoscopy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009092:Mucous Membrane / Q000473:pathology; D012189:Retrospective Studies