What is the Difference Between Esophagitis and Barrett’s Esophagus

The key difference between esophagitis and Barrett’s esophagus is that esophagitis is a medical condition arising due to the inflammation of the esophagus by various reasons such as acid reflux, allergy, drugs, and infections, causing damage to the tissues in the esophagus, while Barrett’s esophagus is a medical condition arising due to damages to the flat pink lining of the esophagus by acid reflux, causing the lining to be thickened and become red.

The esophagus is the long muscular tube that delivers food from the mouth to the stomach. Esophagitis and Barrett’s esophagus are two medical conditions related to problems in the esophagus.

CONTENTS

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Esophagitis 
3. What is Barrett’s Esophagus
4. Similarities – Esophagitis and Barrett’s Esophagus
5. Esophagitis vs Barrett’s Esophagus in Tabular Form
6. Summary – Esophagitis vs Barrett’s Esophagus

What is Esophagitis?

Esophagitis is a medical condition that is due to the inflammation of the esophagus by various reasons such as acid reflux, allergy, drugs, and infections. Esophagitis causes damage to the tissues of the esophagus. The most common cause of esophagitis is gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). GERD causes chronic inflammation and tissue damage in the esophagus. GERD results in reflux esophagitis. The other possible causes are allergic reactions (eosinophilic esophagitis), increased number of lymphocytes (lymphocytic esophagitis), drugs (drug-induced esophagitis), and infections (infectious esophagitis).

The symptoms of esophagitis include difficulty swallowing, painful swallowing, chest pain, food impaction, heartburn, acid regurgitation, feeding difficulties, and failure to thrive in children. Esophagitis can be diagnosed through questionnaires, physical examinations, barium X-rays, biopsies, endoscopies, and other laboratory tests. Treatments for esophagitis are elimination and elemental diets, avoiding drugs that cause problems in the esophagus, medications like antacids, H2 receptor blockers, proton pump inhibitors, steroids for inflammation, antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals for infections, and surgery (fundoplication and minimally invasive surgery).

What is Barrett’s Esophagus?

Barrett’s esophagus is a medical condition due to damage to the flat pink lining of the esophagus by acid reflux. As a result, it makes the lining becomes thick and red. This disease is primarily caused due to gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). GERD is normally accompanied by symptoms such as heartburn or regurgitation. In some patients, GERD may trigger a change in the lining of the cells of the lower esophagus, which causes Barrett’s esophagus. The symptoms of Barrett’s esophagus include frequent heartburn and regurgitation of the contents in the stomach, difficulty swallowing, vomiting, and chest pain. Complications such as esophageal cancer also can be caused by Barrett’s esophagus.

Barrett’s esophagus is normally diagnosed through physical examination, tissue biopsy, and endoscopy. Furthermore, treatments for Barrett’s esophagus include medications for GERD, endoscopic resection, radiofrequency ablation, and cryotherapy.

What are the Similarities Between Esophagitis and Barrett’s Esophagus?

• Esophagitis and Barrett’s esophagus are two medical conditions that cause problems in the esophagus.
• Both conditions may cause similar symptoms such as heartburn, regurgitation, and swallowing difficulties.
• They may cause long-term complications.
• Both can be diagnosed through techniques like endoscopy.
• They are treated through specific medications and respective surgeries.

What is the Difference Between Esophagitis and Barrett’s Esophagus?

Esophagitis is a medical condition due to the inflammation of the esophagus due to various reasons such as acid reflux, allergy, drugs, and infections, which cause damage to the tissues in the esophagus. Barrett’s esophagus, on the other hand, is a medical condition due to damage to the flat pink lining of the esophagus by acid reflux, which cause the lining to thicken and become red. Thus, this is the key difference between esophagitis and Barrett’s esophagus. Furthermore, complications due to esophagitis include scarring, narrowing of the esophagus, tearing of the esophagus lining tissue from retching, and Barrett’s esophagus, while esophageal cancer is a complication due to Barrett’s esophagus.

The below infographic presents the differences between esophagitis and Barrett’s esophagus in tabular form for side-by-side comparison.

Summary – Esophagitis vs Barrett’s Esophagus

Esophagitis and Barrett’s esophagus are two medical conditions affecting the normal structure and function of the esophagus. Esophagitis occurs due to inflammation of the esophagus by various reasons such as acid reflux, allergy, drugs, and infections. It causes damage to the tissues in the esophagus. Barrett’s esophagus occurs due to the damage to the flat pink lining of the esophagus by acid reflux. It causes the lining to be thickened and become red. So, this summarizes the difference between esophagitis and Barrett’s esophagus.

Reference:

1. “Esophagitis.” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research.
2. Saling, Joseph. “Barrett’s Esophagus: Symptoms, Causes, and Treatments.” WebMD.

Image Courtesy:

1. “Herpes esophagitis” By Donald E. Mansell, MD – Own work (CC BY-SA 3.0) via Commons Wikimedia
2. “Barrett esophagus intermed. mag” By CoRus13 – Own work (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Commons Wikimedia