Clinical characteristics, endoscopic and pathological features of Barrett's esophagus

Objective To analyze the clinical characteristics, endoscopic and pathological features of Barrett's esophagus (BE). Methods Clinical records, endoscopic and histological features of patients with BE registered in computer database of our hospital were retrieved and investigated. Results BE was found in 80 out of 9263 cases who underwent gastroendoscopy with incidence rate of 0.86%. Of the 80 patients, 52 (65.0%) cases were male and 28 (35%) cases were female. Acid reflux was found in 22 cases (27.5%), heartburn in 19 cases (23.8%), retrosternal pain in 12 cases (16.2%). Endoscopic features: SSBE was found in 69 cases (86.3%) and LSBE in 11 cases (13.8%). Mucosal morphology: island type was found in 46 cases (57.5%), tongue type in 24 cases (30.0%), and circumferential type in 10 cases (12.5%). Pathological features: cardia type in 29 cases (42.6%), gastric fundus in 25 cases (36.8%), and the specialized intestinal metaplasia in 14 cases (20.5%). The rate of dysplasia in the specialized intestinal metaplasia was significantly higher than that in gastric fundus and cardia type (78.5% vs 31%, 32%, P＜ 0.05). Conclusion BE is more common in male. Island type is the common endoscopic features of BE, and gastric fundus and cardia type are the common pathological features of BE. The rate of dysplasia is higher in specialized intestinal metaplasia.