Resumo

BORRAEZ, Bernardo A et al. Endoscopy and Barrett's esophagus: where did we fail?. rev. colomb. cir. [online]. 2014, vol.29, n.4, pp.327-332. ISSN 2011-7582.

Background: Barrett esophagus is a specialized intestinal metaplasia. The diagnosis is based on visualization of a salmon colored mucosa, the properly executed biopsies and the pathology confirmation. Aims: The aims of this study were to determine the efficacy of the endoscopic inspection as compared with the histopathology report and the precision of the visual description of the Barrett's esophagus in Colombia in comparison with other nations. Methods: This is an international multicentric study with prospective review of the data bases. We evaluated the endoscopic findings of 347 patients in whom the endoscopist thought that Barrett´s esophagus was present, and compared them to the pathology results. In addition, we assessed the frequency of an adequate description of the endoscopic findings and the observance of a due biopsy protocol in three countries. Results: The presence of Barrett's esophagus was confirmed in 133 of the 347 patients (38%). Metaplasia was present in 118 of the 133 patients (89%) and low grade dysplasia in 15 patients (11%). The morphology of Barrett´s esophagus was described in 262 of the 347 patients (76%), and the length was reported in 205 of these patients (59%). An average of 3.6±2.2 biopsies were taken. Conclusions: According to our results, visual inspection for the diagnosis of Barrett's esophagus has a low efficacy, and a precise description of the Barretts esophagus was not done in around a half of the patients in Colombia. This study suggests the need for more strict observation of the American Gastroenterological Association and the American College of Gastroenterology guidelines by physicians in order to optimize the diagnosis of Barretts esophagus.

Palavras-chave : Gastroesophageal reflux; Barrett's esophagus; metaplasia; endoscopy; biopsy.

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