The real time pathological diagnosis value of confocal laser endomicroscopy in gastric cancer and precancerous disease

Abstract

Objective To investigate the accuracy and the consistency with pathological diagnosis of confocal laser endomicroscopy (CLE) in real-time diagnosis of gastric malignancy and precancerous diseases.Methods From January 2010 to March 2011, the out-patients and hospitalized patients of suspected gastric malignancy or precancerous diseases in Shanghai Ruijin Hospital were screened and undergone confocal laser endomicroscopy.Fluorescein sodium was used as fluorescent agent in the examination.A four-tiered diagnostic system was applied in the real time diagnosis with CLE images, and targeted biopsy was performed accordingly. Surgery was performed in CLE diagnosed or highly malignancy suspected patients.The diagnosis of common endoscopy, CLE and pathology was reviewed.Results A total of 160 patients were enrolled in this study, of those one patient withdrew because of fluorescin allergy and the rest 159 patients completed the CLE examination.A total of 194 lesions were inspected, among them, 130 cases each with one lesion, 23 cases each with two lesions and 6 cases each with three lesions.Overall accuracy rate of CLE was 93.3％ (181/194).And the sensitivity and specificity of CLE in gastric malignancy diagnosis was 93.6 ％ and 99.3 ％ respectively.Ideal correlation was identified between confocal laser endomicroscopy and final pathology results (Kappa=0.876).The incidence of marked fluorescin-related adverse events was only 0.6％ (1/160). Conclusions CLE is consistent with histopathology and is helpful to make accurate diagnosis of gastric malignancy and precancerous diseases.It is important in early diagnosis of gastric malignancy and helps to avoid misdiagnosis and missed diagnosis. Key words: Gastric cancer; Precancerous disease; Endoscopy; Confocal Laser Endomicroscopy