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World J Gastrointest Endosc. Mar 10, 2016; 8(5): 259-266
Published online Mar 10, 2016. doi: 10.4253/wjge.v8.i5.259
Endoscopic imaging of Barrett’s esophagus
Mariam Naveed, Kerry B Dunbar
Mariam Naveed, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, IA 52242, United States
Kerry B Dunbar, Dallas VA Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75216, United States
Kerry B Dunbar, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75390, United States
Author contributions: Naveed M and Dunbar KB both and equally contributed to this paper.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Kerry B Dunbar, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Medicine, Dallas VA Medical Center, GI Lab CA 111-B1, 4500 South Lancaster Road, Dallas, TX 75216, United States. kerry.dunbar@utsouthwwestern.edu
Telephone: +1-214-8571603 Fax: +1-214-8571571
Received: June 4, 2015
Peer-review started: June 6, 2015
First decision: August 31, 2015
Revised: December 11, 2015
Accepted: December 16, 2015
Article in press: December 18, 2015
Published online: March 10, 2016
Processing time: 274 Days and 11.9 Hours
Abstract

The incidence of esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) has dramatically increased in the United States as well as Western European countries. The majority of esophageal adenocarcinomas arise from a backdrop of Barrett’s esophagus (BE), a premalignant lesion that can lead to dysplasia and cancer. Because of the increased risk of EAC, GI society guidelines recommend endoscopic surveillance of patients with BE. The emphasis on early detection of dysplasia in BE through surveillance endoscopy has led to the development of advanced endoscopic imaging technologies. These techniques have the potential to both improve mucosal visualization and characterization and to detect small mucosal abnormalities which are difficult to identify with standard endoscopy. This review summarizes the advanced imaging technologies used in evaluation of BE.

Keywords: Esophageal adenocarcinoma; Barrett’s esophagus; Dysplasia; Intestinal metaplasia; Advanced endoscopic imaging; Narrow band imaging; Confocal laser endomicroscopy

Core tip: The majority of esophageal adenocarcinomas (EAC) arise from a backdrop of Barrett’s esophagus (BE), a premalignant lesion that can lead to dysplasia and cancer. Because of the increased risk of EAC, GI society guidelines recommend endoscopic surveillance of patients with BE. The emphasis on early detection of dysplasia in BE through surveillance endoscopy has led to the development of advanced endoscopic imaging technologies. These techniques have the potential to both improve mucosal visualization and characterization and to detect small abnormalities which are difficult to identify with standard endoscopy. This review summarizes the advanced imaging technologies used in evaluation of BE.