Barrett's Esophagus and Esophageal Adenocarcinoma - Hardcover

For these reasons, a book on Barrett's esophagus is timely and offers areas of study in many disciplines: clinical esophagology, pathology, therapeutic and innovative endoscopy, epidemiology, surgery, oncology, and molecular biology. Barrett's Esophagus and Esophageal Adenocarcinoma is a comprehensive collection of chapters written by leading authorities in the field. It covers all the above-listed areas and has many fine qualities. The editors clearly demonstrate that the study of Barrett's esophagus lends itself to a multidisciplinary approach. Each chapter is introduced by a background section that acquaints the reader with the concepts underlying the material that follows. As a result, the book does a remarkable job of presenting knowledge about Barrett's esophagus to a general audience.

This is not a ``how-to'' book. Most of the authors effectively summarize and evaluate current information, rather than offer strong opinions. There are, however, some exceptions. Castell, for example, reviews the role of acid in Barrett's esophagus and strongly suggests that aggressive acid suppression will impede the development of dysplasia and carcinoma. Ormseth and Wong are more cautious; they conclude that acid suppression should be used only to control symptoms and to treat and prevent inflammation and complications of gastroesophageal reflux disease. The chapter on surgical therapy lends strong support to fundoplication in preference to any medical therapy, again with the goal of preventing esophageal cancer. Although ostensibly confusing and contradictory, these different opinions are valuable because they demonstrate that rigorous data on some of the most important questions about the disease are lacking. These include not only the effect (if any) of acid suppression on dysplasia but also the criteria by which patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease should be screened for Barrett's esophagus and the proper technique and interval for screening patients with Barrett's esophagus for dysplasia and adenocarcinoma in the absence of predictive clinical or tissue markers.

The figures and tables are excellent, the color plates are of good quality, and the text is lucid, succinct, and comprehensive. This superb work effectively summarizes all the current topics pertinent to Barrett's esophagus. It is comprehensive yet not cumbersome and introduces the reader to a wide range of disciplines. Gastroenterologists will reap great rewards from reading this book, but it also reaches out to a larger audience and is a model of how the study of a single disease lends itself to many different specialties.

David A. Katzka, M.D.
Copyright © 2001 Massachusetts Medical Society. All rights reserved. The New England Journal of Medicine is a registered trademark of the MMS.

-J. Patrick Waring, Atlanta GA
Practical Gastroenterology, January 2002

"Barrett's Esophagus and Esophageal Adenocarcinoma is a comprehensive collection of chapters written by leading authorities in the field. It has many fine qualities. The editors clearly demonstrate that the study of Barrett's esophagus lends itself to a multidisciplinary approach. Each chapter is introduced by a background section that acquaints the reader with the concepts underlying the material that follows. As a result, the book does a remarkable job of presenting knowledge about Barrett's esophagus to a general audience.

The figures and tables are excellent, the color plates are of good quality, and the text is lucid, succinct and comprehensive. This superb work effectively summarizes all the current topics pertinent to Barrett's esophagus. It is comprehensive yet not cumbersome and introduces the reader to a wide range of disciplines. Gastroenterologists will reap great rewards from reading this book, but it also reaches out to a larger audience and is a model of how the study of a single disease lends itself to many different specialities."

-David. A. Katzka, MD. The New England Journal of Medicine. Volume 345(20) November 2001.