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Published on: November 21, 2023
Dabigatran-induced esophagitis: The prevalence and endoscopic characteristics
Yosuke Toya1, Shotaro Nakamura1, Kazumitsu Tomita2
1Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine.
Background And Aim:
There have been some descriptions of dabigatran-induced esophagitis in the literature. The aim of this study was to examine the prevalence and endoscopic characteristics of the disease.
Methods:
We reviewed the endoscopic database and medical records of 91 patients with dabigatran internal use who underwent upper gastrointestinal endoscopy. The frequency of dabigatran-induced esophagitis and its endoscopic findings were retrospectively analyzed. In addition, the clinical characteristics were compared between patients with dabigatran-induced esophagitis and those without the disease.
Results:
Dabigatran-induced esophagitis was found in 19 of 91 (20.9%) patients. Of the 19 patients with the esophagitis, 18 (94.7%) showed longitudinally sloughing epithelial casts in the mid and/or lower esophagus, which may be characteristic endoscopic findings of this disease. Symptomatic patients were more frequent in patients with dabigatran-induced esophagitis (68.4%) than those without (37.5%, P = 0.02). Other factors including age, gender, coexistence of hiatal hernia, gastroesophageal reflux disease, or concomitant other medications did not differ between the two groups.
Conclusions:
Dabigatran causes the esophageal mucosal injury in approximately 20% of patients. Longitudinally sloughing casts in the distal esophagus are characteristic of dabigatran-induced esophagitis.
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