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Volume 7, Issue 7 (Suppl)
J Gastrointest Dig Syst
ISSN: 2161-069X JGDS, an open access journal
Gastroenterologists 2017
December 14-15, 2017
Page 30
Notes:
conference
series
.com
December 14-15, 2017 Dubai, UAE
11
th
World
Gastroenterologists Summit
New classifications of GERD and impact on clinical management
G
astro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD) is a highly prevalent condition (affecting up to 20% of subjects in Western
populations) which significantly impacts the daily quality of life. GERD encompasses a heterogenous group of
manifestations, with esophageal and/or extra-esophageal symptoms, ranging from complicated phenotypes such as erosive
esophagitis and Barrett’s esophagus to the non-erosive symptomatic disease. The pathophysiology of non-erosive disease is
incompletely understood. Diagnostic work-up and treatment may be challenging when patients are incorrectly classified. Beside
upper endoscopy, direct reflux tests such as ambulatory esophageal pH-metry or, more recently, pH-impedance monitoring
allow an accurate classification of conditions presenting with esophageal symptoms without endoscopic abnormalities.
Findings of reflux testing, essentially esophageal acid exposure time and temporal association between symptoms and reflux
events, are able to discriminate patients with a true non-erosive disease displaying a pathological reflux from patients affected
by hypersensitivity to a physiological reflux and from patients affected by functional heartburn (FH), the latter defined as
a functional esophageal disorder characterized by chronic heartburn unrelated to acid or non-acid reflux. In FH patients
symptoms persist despite PPIs and are considered to be strongly associated with peripheral or central sensitization. This new
classification, recently adopted by international groups of experts-the Rome foundation for functional GI disorders and GERD
international group-might provide a better support to different therapeutical approaches. There is still a great unmet clinical
need for therapeutic drugs that can be used to treat FH and the development of novel drugs, diagnostic tests and biomarkers
is eagerly awaited.
Biography
Michele Cicala has completed his PhD and Postdoctoral studies from Sapienza University of Rome, Italy. He is responsible for the Unit of Gastroenterology and
Digestive Endoscopy and Head of the Postgraduate course of Campus Bio Medico University of Rome, Italy. He has published more than 90 papers in reputed
journals and has been serving as an Editorial Board Member of repute.
M.Cicala@unicampus.itMichele Cicala
Campus Bio Medico University of Rome, Italy
Michele Cicala, J Gastrointest Dig Syst 2017, 7:7 (Suppl)
DOI: 10.4172/2161-069X-C1-060