Endoscopic pneumatic dilation versus botulinum toxin injection in the management of primary achalasia.

Background: Achalasia is an oesophageal motility disorder, of unknown cause, which results in increased lower oesophageal sphincter (LOS) tone and symptoms of difficulty swallowing. Treatments are aimed at reducing the LOS tone. Current endoscopic therapeutic options include pneumatic dilation (PD) or botulinum toxin (BTX) injection.

Inter-endoscopist agreement in diagnosis of Barrett's oesophagus.

Objective: To assess how interpretation of abnormalities at the oesophago-gastric junction (OGJ) when making a diagnosis of Barrett's oesophagus (BO) varies between endoscopists and to examine the impact of the endoscopy experience on these decisions.

Design/setting: Members of the Irish Society of Gastroenterology who regularly perform gastroscopy were invited to participate in a web based image assessment study.

Interventions: Questions were posed to ascertain level of endoscopy experience, and participants were asked to indicate the presence or absence of BO in 12 endoscopic images of the OGJ.