Esophagitis with Bleeding This video segment was taken in the lower esophagus of a 35 year old airline mechanic who was seen with a complaint of frequent heartburn over the past 6 years. He had been taking over the counter antacids without improvement. He smoked two packs of cigarettes daily. On two occasions he spit up a small amount of blood. At the insistence of his wife, he made an appointment and was scheduled for a gastroscopy examination. Here you can see that the lower few inches of the esophagus (foodpipe) are very inflamed and there is an ulcer with a small amount of fresh bleeding. This is a case of severe GERD, or gastroesophageal reflux disease. The patient was glad to hear that there was no cancer. After 6 weeks of prescription therapy with Prevacid, his symptoms and ulcers completely healed. He has quite smoking and is now doing quite well on maintenance medical therapy.
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