Clinical characteristics of gastroesophageal reflux disease in Japan.

Background/aims: Little is known about the correlation between clinical symptoms in daily life and the endoscopic features of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). The study aim is to evaluate the correlation between clinical symptoms in daily life and endoscopic findings in reflux esophagitis (RE), and endoscopically suspected esophageal metaplasia (ESEM) in a large number of Japanese non-clinical cases.
Methodology: A total of 6504 subjects who underwent an endoscopy for their annual medical check-up at Miyagi cancer society were enrolled in this study. If esophagitis was present, it was graded according to the Los Angeles classification. ESEM describes endoscopic findings consistent with BE that await histological evaluation. It was also investigated the symptom of heartburn as a "typical symptom" of GERD, and dysphagia as an "atypical symptom" of GERD.
Results: The prevalence of heartburn and dysphagia significantly increased concomitantly with endoscopic the esophagitis grading. The prevalence of heartburn was significantly higher in subjects with long segment ESEM than those without it.
Conclusion: The prevalence of heartburn and dysphagia were closely associated with RE grading. Long segment ESEM is strongly associated with the reflux symptom and RE. The more frequent the GERD symptoms, the greater the risk for the development of severe RE, and ESEM.