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BACKGROUND & AIMS: Recommended surveillance intervals after complete eradication of intestinal metaplasia (CE-IM) after endoscopic eradication therapy (EET) are largely not evidence-based. Using recurrence rates in a multicenter international Barrett’s esophagus (BE) CE-IM cohort, we aimed to generate optimal intervals for surveillance. METHODS: Patients with dysplastic BE undergoing EET and achieving CE-IM from prospectively maintained databases at 5 tertiary-care centers in the United States and the United Kingdom were included. The cumulative incidence of recurrence was estimated, accounting for the unknown date of actual recurrence that lies between the dates of current and previous endoscopy. This cumulative incidence of recurrence subsequently was used to estimate the proportion of patients with undetected recurrence for various surveillance intervals over 5 years. Intervals were selected that minimized recurrences remaining undetected for more than 6 months. Actual patterns of post-CE-lM follow-up evaluation are described. RESULTS: A total of 498 patients (with baseline low-grade dysplasia, 115 patients; high-grade dysplasia [HGD], 288 patients; and intramucosal adenocarcinoma [IMCa], 95 patients) were included. Any recurrence occurred in 27.1% and dysplastic recurrence occurred in 8.4% over a median of 2.6 years of follow-up evaluation. For pre-ablation HGD/IMCa, intervals of 6, 12, 18, and 24 months, and then annually, resulted in no patients with dysplastic recurrence undetected for more than 6 months, comparable with current guideline recommendations despite a 33% reduction in the number of surveillance endoscopies. For pre-ablation low-grade dysplasia, intervals of 1, 2, and 4 years balanced endoscopic burden and undetected recurrence risk. CONCLUSIONS: Lengthening post-CE-IM surveillance intervals would reduce the endoscopic burden after CE-IM with comparable rates of recurrent HGD/IMCa. Future guidelines should consider reduced surveillance frequency.

Background Probe-based confocal laser endomicroscopy (pCLE) is an emerging tool for in vivo imaging of the GI tract that requires the endoscopist to interpret microscopic images. The learning curve for interpretation of pCLE images is unknown. Objective To examine the learning curve of correctly identifying benign and neoplastic colorectal lesions by using pCLE and to evaluate the learning curve of obtaining high-quality images. Design Prospective, double-blind review of pCLE images of 76 colorectal lesions by using corresponding polypectomies as the reference standard. A training set of 20 images with known histology was first reviewed to standardize image interpretation, followed by blinded review of 76 unknown images. Setting Eleven endoscopists from 3 different endoscopy centers evaluated the images obtained by 1 endoscopist using the high-definition confocal probe. Patients Patients undergoing screening and surveillance colonoscopies. Intervention Intravenous fluorescein pCLE imaging of colorectal lesions followed by polypectomies. Main Outcome Measurements Accuracy of image interpretation with constructing learning curve for pCLE image interpretation and acquisition. Results Of the 76 colorectal lesions, 51 (67%) were neoplastic and 25 (33%) were benign, based on histopathology. Accuracy for the overall group was 63% for lesions 1 to 20, 64% for lesions 21 to 40, 79% for lesions 41 to 60, and 86% for lesions 61 to 76. The ability to obtain high-quality images was stable over the 76 cases. Limitations Small sample size and use of offline video sequences. Conclusions Accurate interpretation of pCLE images for predicting neoplastic lesions can be learned rapidly by a wide range of GI specialists. Furthermore, the ability to acquire high-quality pCLE images is also quickly learned.

Our aim was to identify patient and procedure characteristics that correlate with increased likelihood of bleeding during and after endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR), and thus anticipate the need for preventative therapy.This was a retrospective, observational, descriptive study using a prospective EMR database, performed in a tertiary-care center. A total of 935 EMR of various locations within the gastrointestinal tract were collected. The main outcome measurement was early bleeding (occurring during the procedure) and delayed bleeding (occurring after the completion of the procedure and up to 30 days after).Early bleeding occurred in 5.3% (50/935) of the procedures. In multivariate logistic regression analysis, esophageal EMR (OR 2.5, 95% CI 1.2-5, P = 0.0009) and increase in lesion size (OR 1.24, 95% CI 1.1-1.5, P = 0.003) were both associated with higher odds of early bleeding in EMR when controlling for age, gender and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)/clopidogrel use. Delayed bleeding occurred after 3.1% (n = 29) of the procedures. Of these, 86.2% (25/29) required hospital admission and endoscopic intervention to confirm and/or treat bleeding site. In multivariate logistic regression analysis, increased lesion size (OR 1.3, 95% CI 1.1-1.5, P = 0.004) was associated with higher incidence of delayed bleeding post-EMR.In experienced hands bleeding during and after EMR appears to be uncommon. Larger lesions are at increased risk of early and delayed bleeding.