Five experts will discuss the management of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) during Monday’s DDW^® Clinical Symposium, GERD: From Diagnosis to Testing and Therapy, which is co-sponsored by AGA, ASGE and SSAT.

Symposium co-chair C. Prakash Gyawali, MD, MRCP, professor of medicine in the division of gastroenterology and director of the fellowship training program at Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, said collaboration between the gastroenterologist and surgeon is essential when managing patients with reflux.

“In recent years, we’ve seen advances in diagnostic and testing modalities for GERD,” Dr. Gyawali said. “We’ve also seen a shift in the management of reflux. There are invasive therapies beyond anti-reflux surgery that are available now. We’ve also had reports of issues associated with long-term use of acid suppressants. These are all concerns for the gastroenterologist and the surgeon alike.”

Given all of these changes, Dr. Gyawali said it made sense to plan a joint symposium at DDW 2017 to address the diagnosis and management of GERD and discuss concerns — real or hyped — regarding proton pump inhibitors (PPIs).

World-renowned esophageal physiologist Daniel Sifrim, MD, PhD, professor of gastrointestinal physiology at the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, U.K., will begin the symposium with a presentation on how to make a conclusive GERD diagnosis.

“This first presentation will be useful for the average practitioner because Dr. Sifrim will talk about what constitutes a true pathologic acid reflux burden in the esophagus,” Dr. Gyawali said. “Dr. Sifrim has spent most of his career studying reflux mechanisms and diagnostic testing. He’ll be able to talk about what is normal in esophageal physiological testing as well as what abnormalities indicate a high likelihood of pathologic reflux burden in the esophagus. This will help the average practitioner understand how to organize testing and who to test to make a diagnosis.”

Peter Kahrilas, MD, professor of medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, will then present a lecture titled “Benefits and Risks of Long-Term PPI Therapy: What is the Evidence?”

“We’ve asked Dr. Kahrilas to talk about the issues with long-term PPI therapy because some of the data that’s coming out is not true cause-and-effect information,” Dr. Gyawali said. “Rather, there is a lot of hype and fear. Not just with patients, but with physicians prescribing these medications. With his extensive experience, Dr. Kahrilas will be a good person to clear the air regarding the benefits and risks of long-term PPI therapy.”

Andreas J. Smout, MD, PhD, professor of neurogastroenterology and motility at the University of Amsterdam Faculty of Medicine, the Netherlands, will discuss noninvasive options other than acid suppression that can enhance medical management of GERD.

His talk will be followed by a review of endoscopic therapies by Vic Velanovich, MD, professor of surgery at the University of Southern Florida, Tampa.

Dr. Velanovich will discuss transoral and endoluminal therapies. Finally, John Lipham, MD, associate professor of surgery and chief of the division of upper GI and general surgery at the Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, will discuss a new surgical therapy called magnetic sphincter augmentation. The technique involves the surgical implantation of a magnetic bracelet around the esophago-gastric junction.

“We don’t want the straight-forward options — PPIs and anti-reflux surgery — to be center stage during this symposium,” Dr. Gyawali said. “We want the panel to go beyond these so that the audience can understand the other viable management options as well as options that will available in the future.”

This session will take place on Monday, May 8, from 8 to 9:30 a.m. in Room S103. Please refer to the DDW Mobile App or the Program section of Monday’s DDW Daily News for additional information on this and other DDW events.