Here are five points:
1. Stuart J. Spechler, MD, chief of the division of gastroenterology at the VA North Texas Health Care System and professor of medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, both in Dallas, said one reason for the lack of professional society guidelines on gastric intestinal metaplasia could be that surveillance is so difficult.
2. Another reason Barrett’s esophagus gets the majority of concern is because incidence of esophageal adenocarcinoma has risen in the United States, while gastric cancer has fallen.
3. Gastric intestinal metaplasia and Barrett’s esophagus are historically identical, but it’s unknown why they behave so differently.
4. David C. Metz, MD, professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine in Philadelphia, recommends surveying low-risk patients every three years. High-risk patients should be surveyed every one to three years.
5. Dr. Spechler and his colleagues hope to sort out some of these issues at the 2016 James W. Freston Conference in Chicago, taking place in August.
More articles on GI & endoscopy:
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Nor-ursodeoxycholic acid shows success in treating primary sclerosing cholangitis — 3 points
