A retrospective analysis of the demographic, laboratory, and gastric histopathological characteristics of epiphrenic oesophageal diverticula

Aims: The objective of this study is to examine the demographic, laboratory, and histopathological characteristics of epiphrenic oesophageal diverticulum in a large cohort, with the aim of developing a deeper understanding of its demographic distribution, biochemical profile, and endoscopic biopsy results. Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted on 111 patients, including 36 with epiphrenic oesophageal diverticulum and 75 without. Demographic characteristics, laboratory findings (leukocyte count, haemoglobin, platelet count, and others), and histopathological data from gastric antrum biopsies (gastric atrophy, Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection, and intestinal metaplasia) were evaluated. The comparisons between the two groups were made using the Mann-Whitney U test, Chi-square test and independent sample T test, p0.05). Laboratory analyses revealed no significant differences in leukocyte, mean corpuscular volume, platelet, lymphocyte, neutrophil, monocyte, glucose, urea, creatinine, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, sodium, potassium, and C-reactive protein values between the groups (p>0.05). However, there were significant differences in haemoglobin and calcium levels, which were lower in the epiphrenic oesophageal diverticulum group (p0.05). Conclusion: The largest case series of epiphrenic oesophageal diverticulum demonstrates that patients with and without the condition have similar characteristics and profiles. Further investigation may help explain why haemoglobin and calcium levels are reduced among those with diverticula. These findings contribute valuable data to the limited literature on epiphrenic oesophageal diverticulum.