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Mease Countryside Hospital's Heartburn Relief Center Offers Patients a New High-Tech Procedure for Diagnosing Acid Reflux
Contact: Matt Novak
727/ 734-6081
727/ 469-6724 ' pager
Safety Harbor, FL ' A new catheter-free procedure lets physicians at the Mease Countryside Heartburn Relief Center accurately and easily record esophageal pH acid levels in patients who suffer from frequent, chronic heartburn. By attaching a small device, the size of a gel capsule to the wall of the esophagus, patients can move about freely and eat normally throughout the course of 48-hours. During this time, the capsule is transmitting data to a pager-size receiver worn on the patient�s belt. After the 48-hours, the capsule spontaneously detaches itself and passes from the body through the digestive tract. The information collected in the receiver is later downloaded to a computer with the results of the test. This innovation radically reduces the patient discomfort currently associated with pH monitoring,� said Ted Small, medical director of the Mease Countryside Heartburn Relief Center. Because it is invisible to the outside world, it frees patients to pursue completely normal and unrestricted daily activities while the test is being conducted.�
Prior to this high-tech procedure, physicians would have to insert a thin catheter into the patient�s nose or mouth. The catheter was worn for 24-hours and measured the acidity level in the esophagus. This procedure was both uncomfortable for the patient and not as accurate.
Heartburn is caused when the lower esophageal sphincter (LES) acts as a one-way valve, enabling food to pass into the stomach. When the LES is not doing its job properly, stomach acid, enzymes and bile back up from the stomach into the esophagus. This produces the burning sensation, the predominant symptom of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).
If continued exposure to stomach acid and other gastric juices causes irritation of the esophagus that can result in inflammation or ulceration, serious medical conditions, including ulcers and bleeding, and narrowing of the esophagus or Barrett�s esophagus, which is a condition that could lead to esophageal cancer.
GERD affects an estimated 21 million Americans annually.
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