Benign and Neoplastic Conditions of the Esophagus, An Issue of Gastroenterology Clinics

Esophageal diseases are amongst the most common gastrointestinal illnesses encountered by both the gastroenterologist as well as the primary care physician. Gastroesophageal reflux symptoms affect 20% of adult Americans on a weekly or more frequent basis, and Barrett’s esophagus, a pre-cancerous lesion of the distal esophagus associated with chronic GERD, is prevalent in 2-6% of the adult population. Additionally, there have been remarkable advances in the care of esophageal diseases in the last several years, with the development of new imaging modalities, new physiological tests, and promising data emerging with respect to biomarkers for esophageal neoplasia. A relatively new clinical entity, eosinophilic esophagitis, is being characterized in the literature, and the ubiquity of this condition is now recognized. Given the dynamic nature of this area, the strides being made in esophageal diseases, and the importance of these diseases to clinicians practicing both subspecialty and general medicine, a volume dedicated to esophageal diseases is timely and necessary. The goals of this work are to familiarize clinicians with advances in care of patients with esophageal disorders, and to update them on new trends in epidemiology and outcomes of these diseases.