Diagnosis of Acid Reflux Disease Using Novel Imaging

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), a common chronic disorder in the veteran population, is associated with drug costs exceeding $ 10 billion/year. Only 30-40% of patients with reflux symptoms have erosive esophagitis. The vast majority suffers from non erosive reflux disease (NERD), a condition in which standard endoscopy fails to identify any mucosal breaks and is unable to confirm the diagnosis. Unfortunately, a gold standard for the diagnosis of NERD does not exist. Narrow band imaging (NBI) utilizes spectral narrow band filters (incorporated into standard endoscopes) and helps to see abnormal areas not identified during standard endoscopy. Preliminary results have shown that NBI endoscopy may represent a significant improvement over standard endoscopy for the diagnosis of NERD. The purpose of this study is to accurately diagnosis non acid reflux disease by using a blue light (also known as NBI)upper endoscopy technique.