Digestive EndoscopyManagement of high grade dysplasia in Barrett's oesophagus with underlying oesophageal varices: A retrospective study

BackgroundEndoscopic treatment of Barrett's oesophagus leading to high grade dysplasia with oesophageal varices may lead to bleeding complications.AimsEstimate effectiveness of endoscopic band-ligation in oesophageal varices patients treated for high grade dysplasia, and compare to endoscopically treated non-oesophageal varices high grade dysplasia patients.MethodsRetrospective comparative study. All 8 high grade dysplasia patients with varices who were treated initially with band-ligation at Mayo Clinic between 8/1/1999 and 2/28/2014 were compared with reference group of 52 high grade dysplasia patients treated endoscopically.ResultsOne high grade dysplasia patients patient with oesophageal varices (12.5%) achieved complete remission of intestinal metaplasia defined by at least one followup endoscopy with normal biopsies, and 3 (37.5%) achieved complete remission of dysplasia defined by at least one followup endoscopy with non-dysplastic biopsies. 39 (75.0%) endomucosal resection/radiofrequency ablation patients experienced at least one followup endoscopy with normal biopsies, and 49 (94.2%) experienced non-dysplastic biopsies. Both of these endpoints occurred significantly more often in the endomucosal resection/radiofrequency ablation group compared to the high grade dysplasia with oesophageal varices group (p = 0.016 and p = 0.025, respectively).ConclusionsHigh grade dysplastic Barrett's can be safely managed with band-ligation. However, resolution of Barrett's epithelium is rarely achieved with banding alone.