Newer research

Links to some relevant research abstracts since the research archive was last saved.

16 January 2021 Significant decline in the prevalence of Barrett’s esophagus among patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease "The results of our study indicate that there has been a steady and significant decline in the prevalence of BE in GERD patients over the last 2 decades. During this same time period, there has been an accompanying increase in the use of PPI, aspirin therapy, and a reduction in smoking, all modifiable risk factors potentially contributing to the decreasing prevalence of BE. Whether this decreasing prevalence of BE will lead to a reduction in EAC remains to be seen. " (Diseases of the Esophagus)

2020 Barrett’s esophagus: current standards in advanced imaging [Full text] "No evidence was found of benefit from PPI treatment in patients with persistent throat symptoms. RSI scores were similar between the lansoprazole and placebo groups after 16 weeks of treatment and at the 12 month follow-up." (Translational Gastroenterology and Hepatology)

2020 [Classifications and scores used in digestive endoscopy] [full text, Spanish] "A single balloon sampling was comparable to 4 brushes in capturing diagnostically relevant cellular volumes and architecture. Naïve users easily performed the procedures after reading the guidelines." (Annals of Otology, Rhinology and Laryngology)

30 December 2020 Efficacy of Magnetic Sphincter Augmentation across the Spectrum of GERD Disease Severity (full text) "MSA is an effective treatment in patients with severe GERD and leads to significant clinical improvement across the spectrum of disease severity with few objective outcomes being superior in patients with mild-moderate reflux disease. " (Journal of American College of Surgeons)

26 December 2020 Endoscopic features of buried Barrett's mucosa "In this retrospective analysis of a prospectively observed patients with dysplastic Barrett's esophagus, buried Barrett's mucosa was identified in 7%, including treatment-naïve patients. The proposed endoscopic features of buried Barrett's were seen in 79% of patients with histology confirmed disease. These endoscopic features may predict the presence of buried Barrett's, which may contain dysplasia or neoplasia. An overlap between the endoscopic features of inflammation, reflux and buried Barrett's was observed. " (Gastrointestinal Endoscopy )

22 December 2020 Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease: A Review (full text) "The clinical management of GERD influences the lives of many individuals and is responsible for substantial consumption of health care and societal resources. Treatments include lifestyle modification, PPI medication, and laparoscopic fundoplication. New endoscopic and less invasive surgical procedures are evolving. PPI use remains the dominant treatment, but long-term therapy requires follow-up and reevaluation for potential adverse effects. " (JAMA)

16 December 2020 Mind the Gap: Current Treatment Alternatives for GERD Patients Failing Medical Treatment and Not Ready for a Fundoplication "Our literature review compares 3 rival procedures to treat "gap" patients for gastroesophageal reflux disease with 4 common endpoints. Magnetic sphincter augmentation appears to have the most reproducible and linear outcomes but is the most invasive of the 3 procedures. MSA outcomes most closely mirrors that of fundoplication." (Surgical Laparoscopy, Endoscopy & Percutaneous Techniques)

11 December 2020 Epidemiology and Outcomes of Young-Onset Esophageal Adenocarcinoma: An Analysis from a Population-Based Database "Young-onset esophageal adenocarcinoma, while uncommon, is rising in incidence. Concerningly, the proportion of advanced disease continues to increase. Young-onset esophageal adenocarcinoma also presents at more advanced stages, resulting in poorer esophageal adenocarcinoma-free survival. Patients with esophageal adenocarcinoma younger than 50 years present at more advanced stages with higher esophageal adenocarcinoma-specific mortality compared with older peers. Current diagnostic and management strategies for young-onset esophageal adenocarcinoma may need to be reevaluated."

16 March 2021 Screening for Barrett’s Oesophagus: Are We Ready for it? "The standard method for BO detection, endoscopy, is invasive and expensive and therefore inappropriate for mass screening. On the other hand, endoscopy is more cost-effective for screening a high-risk population. A consensus has however not been reached on who should be screened. Risk prediction algorithms have been tested as an enrichment pre-screening tool reporting modest AUC’s but require more prospective evaluation studies. Less invasive endoscopy methods like trans-nasal endoscopy, oesophageal capsule endsocopy and non-endoscopic cell collection devices like the Cytosponge coupled with biomarker analysis have shown promise in BO detection with randomised clinical trial evidence." (Endoscopy)