Short segment Barrett's esophagus--the need for standardization of the definition and of endoscopic criteria.

There has been a recent increase in abstracts and publications reporting intestinal metaplasia in the distal esophagus and cardia. The terms "short segment Barrett's esophagus," "intestinal metaplasia of the esophagogastric junction," and "intestinal metaplasia of the cardia" are being used to describe either similar or different entities. This review article deals with the current data on these issues, the definition of short segment Barrett's esophagus including the endoscopic and histologic criteria, the rationale for separating short segment Barrett's esophagus from intestinal metaplasia of the cardia, and a simple classification of intestinal metaplasia.