Question Title: Barretts: stomach or intestinal metaplasia

Dear Richard,

Over the years there has been much controversy over the term Barrett's esophagus. The term refers to a change in the lining of the lower esophagus.More recently the term columnar lined mucosa has been introduced.This change in the lining can have three types of columnar epithelia: gastric fundic type(stomach), junctional (cardia-the type lining the area between the esophagus and stomach) and specialized intestinal type (lining looks more like intestinal cells-goblet cells, mucus secreting cells and villiform surface. The specialized intestinal metaplasia (change in the lining) is the most common, and appears to be the most important of the three epithelial types. Dysplasia (glandular distortion) and cancer in Barrett's esophagus almost invariably are associated with specialized intestinal metaplasia. Surveillance endoscopies are currently recommended only for patients who have specialized intestinal metaplasia. I hope you find this information helpful.

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*Keywords: Barrett's esophagus, intestinal metaplasia