Advances in the Endoscopic Diagnosis of Barrett Esophagus

Abstract

Background: Barrett esophagus (BE) continues to be a major risk factor for developing esophageal adenocarcinoma.

Methods: We review the risk factors, diagnosis, and management of BE, with an emphasis on the most current endoscopic diagnostic modalities for BE.

Results: Novel diagnostic modalities have emerged to address the inadequacies of standard, untargeted biopsies, such as dye-based and virtual chromoendoscopy, endoscopic mucosal resection, molecular biomarkers, optical coherence tomography, confocal laser endomicroscopy, volumetric laser endomicroscopy, and endocytoscopy. Treatment of BE depends on the presence of intramucosal cancer or dysplasia, particularly high-grade dysplasia with or without visible mucosal lesions.

Conclusions: Recent advances in endoscopic diagnostic tools demonstrate promising results and help to mitigate the shortcomings of the Seattle protocol. Future research as well as refining these tools may help aid them in replacing standard untargeted biopsies.