Barrett's esophagus: congenital or acquired?

Barrett's esophagus (BE) is a premalignant condition in which metaplastic specialized columnar epithelium with goblet cells is present in the tubular esophagus. BE is much more prevalent in adults than in children, but largely because of its occurrence in children, a congenital etiology for BE has been proposed by some. However, there is extensive, compelling evidence to indicate that Barrett's specialized metaplasia is an acquired disorder in children and adults, resulting from both a severe mucosal injury and an abnormal intraesophageal milieu during mucosal repair. Acid reflux has been emphasized as being the usual inciting and ongoing injurious factor, but more recently the additional importance of refluxed duodenal contents has been recognized. Despite recent advances in our understanding, it remains unclear why pathologic gastroesophageal reflux results in squamous esophagitis in some persons and Barrett's specialized metaplasia in others. Although the evidence cited for a purely congenital cause of BE can be readily refuted, a congenital component in combination with severe mucosal injury cannot be ruled out.