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Although there are anecdotal reports of familial Barrett's esophagus (BE), its prevalence in symptomatic relatives of patients with BE has not been defined. To determine whether BE patients' first-degree relatives with reflux symptoms have increased risk for BE, researchers compared 100 relatives who had symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease (based on the Reflux Symptom Questionnaire) and 100 reflux patients who had no family histories of BE. BE was defined as at least a 3-cm length of columnar epithelium identified by endoscopy, and all cases were confirmed by biopsy.
Endoscopic findings identified 8 relatives and 5 controls with BE (adjusted odds ratio, 1.58; 95% CI, 0.46-5.45; P=0.47), and shorter segments were found in 4 relatives …