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Current Gastroenterology Reports
Published in: Current Gastroenterology Reports 7/2018

01-07-2018 | Esophagus (J Clarke and N Ahuja, Section Editors)

Mucosal Impedance: a New Approach to Diagnosing Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease and Eosinophilic Esophagitis

Authors: Caroline Barrett, Yash Choksi, Michael F. Vaezi

Published in: Current Gastroenterology Reports | Issue 7/2018

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Abstract

Purpose of Review

In this review, we discuss current diagnostic testing modalities for both gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) and then introduce mucosal impedance (MI), a novel technology that measures epithelial integrity in real time during endoscopy. We describe the advantages and disadvantages of MI as compared with traditional diagnostic testing.

Recent Findings

We review studies that demonstrate that GERD and EoE have distinct MI patterns, and that physicians can accurately diagnose and distinguish the two during endoscopy with minimal time added to the procedure. We also review studies showing that MI has the capability to assess treatment response in both GERD and EoE and that it can be used to diagnose GERD in patients with extraesophageal reflux symptoms.

Summary

Mucosal impedance testing is a major advancement in the diagnosis of GERD and EoE. Future studies are planned to assess whether MI can be used as a treatment endpoint in EoE and whether it can be used to predict response to anti-reflux surgery.
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Metadata
Title
Mucosal Impedance: a New Approach to Diagnosing Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease and Eosinophilic Esophagitis
Authors
Caroline Barrett
Yash Choksi
Michael F. Vaezi
Publication date
01-07-2018
Publisher
Springer US
Published in
Current Gastroenterology Reports / Issue 7/2018
Print ISSN: 1522-8037
Electronic ISSN: 1534-312X
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11894-018-0639-4

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