What are the compared rates of regression of Barrett’s oesophagus observed after surgical or prolonged maintenance therapy?

It is generally accepted that Barrett's esophagus (or columnar lined esophagus) develops as a response to the reflux of both gastric and duodenal contents into the lumen of the distal esophagus, with consequent exposure of the esophageal mucosa to deleterious effects of these substances. It would therefore seem reasonable to hypothesise that eliminating exposure of this mucosa to gastric and duodenal fluids, either by medical or surgical intervention, might be followed by regression of Barrett's esophagus. A knowledge of whether this in fact happens is very important, as Barrett's esophagus is a premalignant condition, which can progress to adenocarcinoma of the esophagus. Furthermore, the incidence of this cancer has risen dramatically over the last three decades. Fortunately, a number of studies have been published which do address the issue of whether either maintenance medical therapy or antireflux surgery is followed by regression of Barrett's esophagus, and these enable the question to be answered with some certainty.