• Chest pain
• gastroesophageal reflux disease

This short book brings together an international group of experienced researchers in the field of oesophageal pain. The two main clinical scenarios are those of heartburn and so-called ‘non-cardiac chest pain’.

The concept is admirable although, as the editor comments in the foreword, there is no unified point of view and some disagreements (and indeed some duplication) are evident as one reads through the chapters. The contributions are grouped in sections, beginning with two overview chapters (including a typically insightful commentary from Professor John Dent). I found the chapter on functional heartburn, although full of useful data, a little frustrating. Rome III has ‘split’ functional heartburn into two subgroups: patients …