Purpose: Modalities of endoscopic therapy of Barrett's HGD and IMC include endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR), radiofrequency ablation (RFA), cryotherapy and argon plasma coagulation (APC). Although these are highly effective in most patients for eradication of dysplasia, some patients continue to have small areas of residual Barrett's or continue to progress to HGD or cancer. Our aims were to assess eradication rates of Barrett's metaplasia and dysplasia as well as factors which predict complete eradication. Methods: Review of prospectively collected database of patients who underwent endoscopic therapy for Barrett's dysplasia or IMC from 2006 to 2011. Patients who underwent EMR only excluded. Variables such as age, race, sex, BMI, alcohol use, smoking, diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, medication use were analyzed. Endoscopic data included length of Barrett's segment, hiatal hernia size, number of endoscopies and biopsy results. Results: Among 118 patients included, there were 60 patients in RFA and 58 patients in cryotherapy group. Compared to RFA patients, cryotherapy patients were found to be older and were more likely to have never used alcohol. In addition, they had longer treatment period and higher number of treatment sessions (table 1). Patients with RFA were more likely to have complete eradication of dysplasia (100% vs. 90%; p=0.012). There were no other significant differences between two groups. PREDICTORS: There was complete eradication of Barrett's in 72 patients (61%). There was Barrett's without dysplasia in 40 patients (33.8 %). Six patients had persistent HGD or progression to cancer (5%). On univariable analysis, subjects who had eradication of metaplasia had a longer treatment period (months 32.8± 20 vs 23.3±18.8, p=0.011) and follow-up time (months 36.8±21.5 vs. 25.9±18.7; p=0.006). There were no other significant differences. After adjusting for all variables in the model, subjects who had RFA had 3-fold higher odds of having eradication of metaplasia than those who had cryotherapy (odds ratio [OR] 2.9; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.1-7.7; p = 0.031). In addition, for every 1 month increase in the EGD followup time, the odds of having complete metaplasia eradication increased by 4% (OR 1.04; 95% CI 1.01-1.07; p= 0.002). Younger age was associated with eradication of metaplasia/dysplasia (66.7± 10.6 vs. 75.8±9.3 years p=0.042). In addition, EMR and RFA were associated with eradication of metaplasia/dysplasia while patients without eradication were more likely to have had cryotherapy or APC/band ligation.Table 1: Endoscopic therapyConclusion: Endoscopic therapy is highly effective in eradication of Barrett's HGD and IMC. RFA with or without EMR and younger age are predictors for complete eradication of BE.
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