Barrett's Esophagus: A Comparison Study between Two Cohorts of Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease

Barrett's esophagus (BE) is a complication of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). It is seen among 15% of GERD patients as per a population-based study by Ronkainen et  al. Barrett's has malignant potential and annual progression to carcinoma depends on the presence or absence of dysplasia. There are various risk factors for the development of BE. We compared two symptomatic cohorts of GERD patients from the same geographical area who were evaluated for the presence of Barrett's and various factors that can contribute to Barrett's Materials and methods: Cross-sectional study. Two GERD cohorts, one from Kottayam and the other from Trivandrum were taken. The presence of Barrett's and the factors contributing to the development of Barrett's were analyzed between the two groups. Since biopsy data of all patients were not available, endoscopically suspected esophageal metaplasia (ESEM) was taken as Barrett's Results: 415 patients were enrolled for the study (203 from Trivandrum and 212 from Kottayam). 192 females (99 from Trivandrum and 93 from Kottayam), and 223 males (104 from Trivandrum and 119 from Kottayam). Barrett's esophagus and especially long-segment Barrett's were significantly more common in Kottayam than Trivandrum (68 vs 22 and 36 vs 9) (p-value <0.001). Among the factors that were traditionally thought to contribute to the development of Barrett's esophagus, age (>50 years) was not statistically significant among the two cohorts (mean age of Trivandrum was 48 years and Kottayam was 49 years). Duration of GERD symptoms was significantly more in the Trivandrum cohort compared to Kottayam (p-value <0.001). Hiatus hernia and body mass index (BMI) were more common in Kottayam. There were no statistically significant differences in erosive esophagitis and antral gastritis (%age?) between the two cohorts.

Both Trivandrum and Kottayam belong to the same geographical area and are separated by a distance of only 150 km. The Kottayam cohort is more prone to develop distal esophageal carcinoma as the BE is more in Kottayam. This data also suggests the need for GERD registries so that high-risk population can be targeted and early intervention can lead to a decrease in the incidence of distal esophageal carcinomas.