Publications by authors named "Pierfrancesco Visaggi"

Introduction: High-resolution manometry (HRM) allows assessment of esophagogastric junction (EGJ) disruption. While type 3 EGJ predicts definitive gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), type 2 EGJ is less clearly implicated in GERD pathogenesis. This study aimed to characterize physiologic findings in type 2 EGJ to determine if the HRM-based Milan Score can define GERD within type 2 EGJ.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Manual decisions regarding the timing of surveillance endoscopy for premalignant Barrett's oesophagus (BO) is error-prone. This leads to inefficient resource usage and safety risks. To automate decision-making, we fine-tuned Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers (BERT) models to categorize BO length (EndoBERT) and worst histopathological grade (PathBERT) on 4,831 endoscopy and 4,581 pathology reports from Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital (GSTT).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is a chronic condition divided into two types: erosive reflux disease (ERD) and non-erosive reflux disease (NERD), primarily influenced by acid secretion and managed with various acid-suppressant medications.
  • Since the 1970s, treatments have evolved from histamine-H-receptor antagonists to proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), and recently, potassium-competitive acid blockers (p-CABs) like Vonoprazan have emerged, offering improved efficacy and safety.
  • Vonoprazan has demonstrated effectiveness in managing ERD and related symptoms, showing potential advantages over older PPIs, with ongoing research expected to explore its long-term benefits in treating other acid-related
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is a chronic disease of the esophagus characterized by the regurgitation of stomach contents into the esophagus, causing troublesome symptoms and/or complications. Among patients with GERD, around 30% of patients have visible mucosal damage, while 70% have normal esophageal mucosa. Accordingly, the optimal pharmacological treatment of GERD should address different disease manifestations, including symptoms, the mucosal damage when present, and possible chronic complications, including strictures, Barrett's esophagus, and esophageal adenocarcinoma.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The study aimed to enhance the diagnosis of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and predict treatment outcomes using a new scoring system called the Lyon score, based on esophageal test parameters.
  • A prediction score was developed from endoscopy and pH-impedance metrics, showing strong performance in a cohort of patients, with an AUC of 0.819 for predicting a 50% reduction in symptoms.
  • The Lyon score effectively differentiates reflux types and indicates how likely patients are to respond to antireflux therapy, outperforming existing scores in certain cohorts.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Lymphocytic esophagitis (LyE) and eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) are both immune-mediated diseases affecting the esophagus, but they have distinct clinical features and treatment outcomes.
  • An international retrospective study examined 35 LyE patients compared to 59 EoE patients, focusing on their demographics, symptoms, and endoscopic findings.
  • The study found that LyE patients responded less effectively to proton pump inhibitors and highlighted the need for more research on the treatment differences between the two conditions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) is a chronic type 2 inflammation-mediated disease characterized by an eosinophil-predominant inflammation of the esophagus and symptoms of esophageal dysfunction. Relevant treatment outcomes in the setting of EoE include the improvement of histology, symptoms, and endoscopy findings, quality of life (QoL), and the psychological burden of the disease. Established validated tools for the assessment of EoE include questionnaires on dysphagia and QoL (ie, DSQ, EEsAI, and EoE-IQ).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Though Italy is a native land of Mediterranean diet, its adherence in the Italian population is low, witnessed by the high rates of overweight in its inhabitants. Vegetarian dietary patterns (i.e.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: This study proposes a revised version of the Reflux Symptom Index (R-RSI), a seventeen-item questionnaire that was revised to increase the suspicion of laryngopharyngeal reflux disease (LPRD).

Methods: Internal validation involved 213 participants, comprising 160 subjects without a previous LPRD diagnosis and 53 subjects with a self-reported previous diagnosis of LPRD with or without gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Test-retest reliability and internal consistency were calculated.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Age-related changes in the gastrointestinal system are common and may be influenced by physiological aging processes. To date, a comprehensive analysis of esophageal motor disorders in patients belonging to various age groups has not been adequately reported.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective assessment of high-resolution manometry (HRM) studies in a multicenter setting.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: The growing prevalence of vegetarianism determines the need for comprehensive study of the impact of these diets on health and particularly on bone metabolism. We hypothesized that significant dietary differences between vegans, lacto-ovo-vegetarians, and omnivores also cause significant differences in their nutrient status, which may affect bone health.

Methods: The study assessed dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry parameters in lumbar spine and femoral neck, average nutrient intake, serum nutrient concentrations, serum PTH levels, and urinary pH among 46 vegans, 38 lacto-ovo-vegetarians, and 44 omnivores.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Ustekinumab (UST) has demonstrated effectiveness in treating patients with Crohn's disease. Monitoring treatment response can improve disease management and reduce healthcare costs. We investigated whether UST trough levels (TLs), serum IL22, and Oncostatin M (OSM) levels could be early indicators of non-response by analysing their correlation with clinical and biochemical outcomes in CD.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: A definitive diagnosis of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) depends on endoscopic and/or pH-study criteria. However, high resolution manometry (HRM) can identify factors predicting GERD, such as ineffective esophageal motility (IEM), esophago-gastric junction contractile integral (EGJ-CI), evaluating esophagogastric junction (EGJ) type and straight leg raise (SLR) maneuver response. We aimed to build and externally validate a manometric score (Milan Score) to stratify the risk and severity of the disease in patients undergoing HRM for suspected GERD.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The present document constitutes Part 2 of the EoETALY Consensus Statements guideline on the diagnosis and management of eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) developed by experts in the field of EoE across Italy (i.e., EoETALY Consensus Group).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: The diagnosis of gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GERD) based on otolaryngologist's assessment of laryngoscopic findings remains contentious in terms of sensitivity and specificity.

Aims: To evaluate GERD prevalence, applying Lyon 2.0 Consensus criteria, in patients with extra-oesophageal symptoms undergoing laryngoscopic examination and impedance-pH monitoring.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • * A group of Italian experts in EoE conducted a Delphi process to create updated management guidelines, which include the latest evidence and improve upon previous guidelines from the Italian Society of Gastroenterology (SIGE).
  • * The new guidelines are split into two parts covering topics like the definition and diagnosis of EoE, as well as treatment and follow-up, and they have been endorsed by several Italian medical societies and incorporated feedback from patient associations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Obesity is a chronic and multifactorial condition characterized by abnormal weight gain due to excessive adipose tissue accumulation that represents a growing worldwide challenge for public health. In addition, obese patients have an increased risk of hiatal hernia, esophageal, and gastric dysfunction, as well as gastroesophageal reflux disease, which has a prevalence over 40% in those seeking endoscopic or surgical intervention. Surgery has been demonstrated to be the most effective treatment for severe obesity in terms of long-term weight loss, comorbidities, and quality of life improvements and overall mortality decrease.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Despite increased awareness of eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE), the diagnostic delay has remained stable over the past 3 decades. There is a need to improve the diagnostic performance and optimize resources allocation in the setting of EoE.

Objective: We developed and validated 2 point-of-care machine learning (ML) tools to predict a diagnosis of EoE before histology results during office visits.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is a clinical condition with a prevalence of up to 25% in Western countries. Typical GERD symptoms include heartburn and retrosternal regurgitation. Lifestyle modifications, including diet, are considered a first-line therapeutic approach.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The relationship between food and the pathophysiological mechanisms of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is unclear. There are few data on the impact of dietary habits on GERD symptoms and on the incidence of GERD in subjects undergoing plant-based diets. In this study, we investigated the association between diet and GERD, using data collected through an online survey of the Italian general population.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Eosinophilic gastrointestinal diseases (EGIDs) are an emerging group of pathological entities characterized by an eosinophil-predominant infiltration of different tracts of the gut in the absence of secondary causes of eosinophilia. According to the specific tract of the gut involved, EGIDs can be classified into eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE), eosinophilic gastritis (EoG), eosinophilic enteritis (EoN), and eosinophilic colitis (EoC). The epidemiology of EGIDs is evolving rapidly.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF