Abstract

CARDOZA, Johan  and  DIB, Jacobo. Barrett’s esophagus. Gen [online]. 2013, vol.67, n.1, pp.42-48. ISSN 0016-3503.

Introduction: Barrett's esophagus (BE) is an acquired condition that results in serious esophageal mucosal injury in which the normal esophageal squamous epithelium is replaced by columnar epithelium with goblet cells called "specialized intestinal metaplasia" (SIM), its significance lies in the possible evolution towards esophageal adenocarcinoma. It is important to emphasize that, in order to define BE, columnar metaplasia replacing the esophageal squamous epithelium must be of intestinal type only, or combined with other histological patterns, and not exclusively of a gastric type as previously thought, as is SIM that provides an oncogenic risk and has, therefore, pre-neoplastic potential. Therefore, the clinical significance of BE is its preneoplastic potential and the risk of cancerous transformation (esophageal adenocarcinoma) that has been estimated to be forty times greater than in the general population. BE is the result of chronic gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and represents the final stage of the natural history of this disease.

Keywords : Barrett's Esophagus; GERD.

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