A classification system, clinical or research orientated, for reflux oesophagitis must be based on an accurate, objective, reproducible description of the oesophagus. There is a need for generally-accepted diagnostic criteria which may best be derived from an international consensus conference. Accurate description of oesophageal lesions is facilitated by the use of a standardized report form which will permit an accurate, diagrammatic record of all abnormalities. For day-to-day, clinical practice, the newly-revised, 5-grade Savary-Miller classification provides an easily-memorized, widely-accepted description of reflux oesophagitis. For research purposes, it is preferable to use a classification system which can separate the pathologically distinct lesions of columnar metaplasia, ulceration, stricture formation and epithelial erosion and grade them independently.