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Study Finds Prevalence of Barrett's Oesophagus in Asymptomatic Women

OAK BROOK, Ill -- November 23, 2009 -- In the November issue of GIE: Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, a study found that Barrett's oesophagus was detected in 6% of asymptomatic women undergoing endoscopic screening.

Barrett's oesophagus is important to recognise as it may increase the risk of developing oesophageal cancer. It has been detected in approximately 10% of patients with GERD, but previous studies have demonstrated a similar prevalence of Barrett's oesophagus in asymptomatic adults. The majority of patients found to have asymptomatic Barrett's oesophagus in previous studies were male and white.

Whether asymptomatic Barrett's oesophagus occurs in women has not been well studied. Therefore, researchers from Stanford University, Stanford, California, and Palo Alto VA Health Care System, Palo Alto, California performed a prospective study to determine the prevalence of Barrett's oesophagus in asymptomatic women undergoing routine screening colonoscopy or endoscopic examination before bariatric surgery.

Short-segment Barrett's oesophagus was detected in 6% of 126 asymptomatic women undergoing these procedures. Patients found to have Barrett's oesophagus were more likely to be aged 61 to 70 years, but there was no difference in mean body mass index, ethnicity, or tobacco or alcohol use between patients with and without Barrett's oesophagus.

Although Barrett's oesophagus was most commonly observed in the 61- to 70-year age cohort in both groups, Barrett's oesophagus was only detected in patients aged younger than 50 years in the pre-bariatric surgery patients.

The most likely explanation for this finding would be the increased risk of Barrett's oesophagus associated with obesity that has been previously reported.

The researchers stated that further studies examining the natural history of asymptomatic Barrett's oesophagus would be useful to determine the need for endoscopic screening and surveillance in this patient population.

SOURCE: American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy

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