Comparisons of endoscopic and pathological characteristics between long and short segment Barrett's esophagus

Objective To investigate the similarities and differences of endoscopic and pathological char- acteristics between long and short segment Barrett's esophagus.Methods One hundred and twenty-eight cases of Barrett's esophagus identified both by endoscopy and pathology were enrolled in this retrospective study. Among them,40 cases were long segment Barrett's esophagus (LSBE) and 88 were short segment Barrett's esophagus (SSBE).The age distribution,sex distinction,endoscopic manifestations and pathological changes were assessed.Data were statistically analyzed by t-test or u-test.Results There were no differences in age distribution and sex distinction between LSBE and SSBE groups (P＞0.05).The ring pattern was the most prominent type accounting for 62.5% in LSBE group.The island pattern was the most prominent type accounting for 85.2% in SSBE group.There were significant differences in the rates of specialized intestinal metaplasia between LSBE and SSBE groups(47.5% vs 14.8%,P＜0.01).Moreover,among the special- ized intestinal metaplasia,low grade (15.0% vs 4.5%),medium grade (12.5% vs 3.4%) and high grade dysplasia (5.0% vs 0.0%) between LSBE and SSBE groups also had statistical differences (all P＜0.05).Conclusions LSBE may have more tendency in dysplasia than that of SSBE.We should pay attention to the importance of endoscopic manifestations and pathological diagnosis.