Endoscopy-negative reflux disease

The majority of patients with symptoms of gastro-oesophageal reflux have no endoscopic evidence of oesophagitis. There has been remarkably little syst ematic gathering of information about this group of patients. It is commonl y believed that they have a mild form of reflux disease, with low levels of dysfunction that usually respond to simple therapeutic measures. Emerging data from recent studies indicate that this is not the case. Endoscopy-nega tive patients have symptom severities comparable to those with erosive dise ase, and which significantly impair their quality of life. The limited data available on the pathophysiology of endoscopy-negative reflux disease sugg est that, in the majority of patients, it is as much a disease of excessive gastro-oesophageal reflux as it is in patients with oesophageal lesions. T he same principles that apply to successful treatment in patients with oeso phagitis also hold true for patients with endoscopy-negative disease.