SHORT SEGMENT BARRETTS-ESOPHAGUS - THE NEED FOR STANDARDIZATION OF THE DEFINITION AND OF ENDOSCOPIC CRITERIA

There has been a recent increase in abstracts and publications reporti ng intestinal metaplasia in the distal esophagus and cardia, The terms ''short segment Barrett's esophagus,'' ''intestinal metaplasia of the esophagogastric junction,'' and ''intestinal metaplasia of the cardia '' are being used to describe either similar or different entities. Th is review article deals with the current data on these issues, the def inition of short segment Barrett's esophagus including the endoscopic and histologic criteria, the rationale for separating short segment Ba rrett's esophagus from intestinal metaplasia of the cardia, and a simp le classification of intestinal metaplasia. (C) 1998 by Am. Cell. of G astroenterology.