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To the Editor: I would like to comment on the excellent review article on barium esophagography by Drs. Allen, Baker, and Falk in your February 2009 issue. In their opening clinical vignette, they describe a 55-year-old female patient with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and slowly worsening dysphagia for solids. The patient was sent for barium esophagography, which disclosed an obstructing mucosal ring in the distal esophagus. The patient was then sent for endoscopy so that the ring could be treated with dilation. The authors present this case as an example of the type of patient who could obtain benefit from barium esophagography as the initial study. I disagree. In this patient’s case, the barium procedure accomplished nothing, but it did unnecessarily cost the patient money, time, and radiation exposure. The patient would have been better served by being sent directly for endoscopy at the start of her workup, so that her condition could be diagnosed and treated with a single procedure. In her case, this would have spared her any need for the barium procedure. I believe that patients with dysphagia and GERD are best served by initial endoscopy, since GERD is associated with esophageal strictures, dysplasia, and cancer. Barium esophagography can be reserved for those who have had a normal or nondiagnostic endoscopy. For example, a patient with dysphagia and a normal endoscopy might then be sent for esophagography to diagnose a motility disorder.
To the Editor: I would like to comment on the excellent review article on barium esophagography by Drs. Allen, Baker, and Falk in your February 2009 issue. In their opening clinical vignette, they describe a 55-year-old female patient with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and slowly worsening dysphagia for solids. The patient was sent for barium esophagography, which disclosed an obstructing mucosal ring in the distal esophagus. The patient was then sent for endoscopy so that the ring could be treated with dilation. The authors present this case as an example of the type of patient who could obtain benefit from barium esophagography as the initial study. I disagree. In this patient’s case, the barium procedure accomplished nothing, but it did unnecessarily cost the patient money, time, and radiation exposure. The patient would have been better served by being sent directly for endoscopy at the start of her workup, so that her condition could be diagnosed and treated with a single procedure. In her case, this would have spared her any need for the barium procedure. I believe that patients with dysphagia and GERD are best served by initial endoscopy, since GERD is associated with esophageal strictures, dysplasia, and cancer. Barium esophagography can be reserved for those who have had a normal or nondiagnostic endoscopy. For example, a patient with dysphagia and a normal endoscopy might then be sent for esophagography to diagnose a motility disorder.
To the Editor: I would like to comment on the excellent review article on barium esophagography by Drs. Allen, Baker, and Falk in your February 2009 issue. In their opening clinical vignette, they describe a 55-year-old female patient with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and slowly worsening dysphagia for solids. The patient was sent for barium esophagography, which disclosed an obstructing mucosal ring in the distal esophagus. The patient was then sent for endoscopy so that the ring could be treated with dilation. The authors present this case as an example of the type of patient who could obtain benefit from barium esophagography as the initial study. I disagree. In this patient’s case, the barium procedure accomplished nothing, but it did unnecessarily cost the patient money, time, and radiation exposure. The patient would have been better served by being sent directly for endoscopy at the start of her workup, so that her condition could be diagnosed and treated with a single procedure. In her case, this would have spared her any need for the barium procedure. I believe that patients with dysphagia and GERD are best served by initial endoscopy, since GERD is associated with esophageal strictures, dysplasia, and cancer. Barium esophagography can be reserved for those who have had a normal or nondiagnostic endoscopy. For example, a patient with dysphagia and a normal endoscopy might then be sent for esophagography to diagnose a motility disorder.