629. TRENDS AND ESOPHAGEAL FINDINGS IN UPPER ENDOSCOPY AT MNAZI MMOJA HOSPITAL, ZANZIBAR

Abstract

Abstract The Zanzibar islands are a group of islands found off the coast of East Africa. The main referral hospital is based on Unguja Island and this is the only government hospital with gastroenterologists and endoscopy services. Many patients may go for long periods before gaining access to these services. This paper aims to describe trends and esophageal findings in upper endoscopy as well as describe a case study of adenocarcinoma of the esophagus. Data was collected retrospectively from January 2014 to December 2021. Records were reviewed to assess total number of endoscopies done as well as to determine the diagnosis of those with esophageal findings. The total number of endoscopies combines both upper and lower endoscopy. The following data were registered total number of endoscopies, cancer of esophagus, esophagitis, esophageal varieces as well as any other esophageal disorder diagnosis found. A total of 2955 endoscopies were undertaken between January 2014 to December 2019. Of those 176 were found to have an esophageal abnormality although specific diagnosis was missing for records from the years 2015, 2016 and 2017. The commonest disorder was esophagitis followed by esophageal cancer and varieces. Other disorders were much rarer and are placed under the category others which include submucosal tumors, Mallory-Weiss tears, esophageal strictures and fistula. There has been a gradual increase in the number of endoscopies done over the period of 2014 to 2021. Despite previous beliefs, esophageal varieces and infectious causes were not the commonest finding. Esophagitis and esophageal cancer were common in our setting and causes should be determined.