Endoscopic Mucosal Resection Results in Change of Histologic Diagnosis in Barrett's Esophagus Patients with Visible and Flat Neoplasia: A Multicenter Cohort Study

Background There are limited data on the effect of endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) on changes of histopathologic diagnosis for Barrett's esophagus (BE) patients undergoing endoscopic eradication therapy (EET); especially those without visible lesions. Aim To compare the frequency of changes of diagnosis by EMR compared with pre-EMR biopsy diagnosis for patients with and without visible lesions. Methods In this multicenter outcomes project, patients with Barrett's-related neoplasia undergoing EET at three tertiary-care centers were included. Patients undergoing biopsies followed by EMR within six months were included. The main outcome measures were frequency of overall change of histopathologic diagnosis, change based on pre-EMR biopsy diagnosis, and change based on the presence of visible lesions. Results One-hundred and thirty-eight BE patients (low-grade dysplasia (LGD) 15 (10.9 %), high-grade dysplasia (HGD) 87 (63 %), esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) 36 (26.1 %)) were included; 114 (82.6 %) patients had visible lesions. EMR resulted in a change of diagnosis for 43 (31.1 %) patients (upgrade 14 (10.1 %); downgrade 29 (21 %)). For HGD patients, EMR downstaged dysplasia grade for 17 (19.5 %) cases and upstaged it to EAC for nine (10.3 %) cases. There was a change of diagnosis for 26 (29.9 %) HGD patients, irrespective of the presence or absence of visible lesions (p = 0.76). For EAC patients, EMR downstaged dysplasia grade in 10 (27.8 %) cases. There was a change of diagnosis for 10 (27.8 %) EAC patients, irrespective of the presence or absence of endoscopically visible lesions (p = 0.48). Conclusions EMR results in a change of diagnosis for approximately 30 % of BE patients with early neoplasia (with and without visible lesions) referred for EET.