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 systematic gathering of information about this group of patients. It is commonly 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-negative patients have symptom severities comparable to those with erosive disease, and which significantly impair their quality of life. The limited data available on the pathophysiology of endoscopy-negative reflux disease suggest 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. The same principles that apply to successful treatment in patients with oesophagitis also hold true for patients with endoscopy-negative disease.