What are the symptoms of esophagitis? Three warnings to tell you

Esophagitis is a disease of the esophagus that causes heartburn or chest pain, and sometimes a choking sensation when eating. The patient's esophagus may develop ulcers or esophageal stenosis, and severe cases may cause esophageal cancer, so if esophagitis is diagnosed, it must be treated promptly.

1. Ulcers

The incidence of esophageal ulcers is 2% to 54%. Symptoms similar to those of gastric ulcers may occur. The pain may radiate to the back and may cause perforation, bleeding, infiltration, stenosis after ulcer healing, and symptoms of difficulty swallowing. It can even penetrate the aorta and cause massive bleeding and rapid death.

The incidence of esophageal ulcers is 2% to 54%.

There are two pathological types of ulcers. The most common one is a superficial ulcer occurring in the squamous epithelium segment, which is similar to the ulcer caused by reflux esophagitis. Another rare type is a deep, large ulcer occurring in the columnar epithelium, similar to a peptic ulcer.

2. Esophageal stenosis

Esophageal stricture is the most common complication of esophageal disease, with an incidence rate of 15% to 100%. The stenosis site is mostly at the junction of squamous and columnar epithelium in the middle and upper esophagus, while the stenosis caused by gastroesophageal reflux is mostly located in the lower esophagus.

The incidence of reflux esophagitis is 29% to 82%. The lesions may also involve both squamous and columnar epithelium.

3. Malignant transformation

The incidence of esophageal cancer is not very accurate, and long-term reflux into the esophagus may cause malignant transformation. However, some studies have shown that anti-reflux surgery in patients with esophageal disease cannot cause the columnar epithelium to regress, nor reduce the risk of malignant transformation.

The incidence of cancer in the esophagus is uncertain.

Dysplasia may occur in the columnar epithelial area of ​​the esophagus, ranging from low to high grade. Low-grade dysplasia is sometimes difficult to distinguish from normal columnar epithelium, while high-grade dysplasia is sometimes difficult to distinguish from carcinoma in situ and may progress to invasive cancer.

These malignant tumors are adenocarcinomas. It is pointed out that there is a difference between endoscopic findings of cardiac adenocarcinoma accompanied by benign columnar epithelium and adenocarcinoma with dysplasia of columnar epithelium. It is generally recognized that dysplasia of Barrett's esophagus is a precancerous condition.