Gut Check on Gastroenterology Archive

October 10th, 2012

Barrett esophagus with high-grade dysplasia: How should it be staged?

I am amazed at the variation I have seen in the use of endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) in staging Barrett esophagus (BE). Some of us use EUS universally, and others (myself included) never use it to stage intramucosal carcinoma or high-grade dysplasia. So, let me propose a case and ask what you would do: The patient is […]

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October 24th, 2011

Is it time to stop surveying Barrett esophagus?

One area of gastroenterology that is guided more by dogma than evidence regards surveillance of nondysplastic Barrett esophagus (BE). Surveillance of BE lesions is widely practiced, despite a large body of evidence that the practice is not cost-effective, the cancer risk from BE is very low, and the life expectancy of BE patients is normal. […]

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August 7th, 2011

Ablating short-segment Barrett esophagus: What’s your weapon of choice?

The first cases of Barrett esophagus (BE) ablation in the late 1980s used YAG and Argon laser. Since then, a myriad of ablation techniques have been described, including multipolar electrocautery (MPEC), argon plasma coagulation (APC), cryotherapy, radiofrequency ablation (RFA), and endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR). Each technique has had its advocates, and some of the techniques […]

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