RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: The progression of Barrett's esophagus (BE) to early esophageal carcinoma occurs sequentially; the metaplastic epithelium develops from a low-grade dysplasia to a high-grade dysplasia (HGD), resulting in early esophageal carcinoma and, eventually, invasive carcinoma. Endoscopic approaches including resection and ablation can be used in the treatment of this condition. AIM: To compare the effectiveness of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) vs endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) + RFA in the endoscopic treatment of HGD and intramucosal carcinoma. METHODS: In accordance with PRISMA guidelines, this systematic review included studies comparing the two endoscopic techniques (EMR + RFA and RFA alone) in the treatment of HGD and intramucosal carcinoma in patients with BE. Our analysis included studies involving adult patients of any age with BE with HGD or intramucosal carcinoma. The studies compared RFA and EMR + RFA methods were included regardless of randomization status. RESULTS: The seven studies included in this review represent a total of 1950 patients, with 742 in the EMR + RFA group and 1208 in the RFA alone group. The use of EMR + RFA was significantly more effective in the treatment of HGD [RD 0.35 (0.15, 0.56)] than was the use of RFA alone. The evaluated complications (stenosis, bleeding, and thoracic pain) were not significantly different between the two groups. CONCLUSION: Endoscopic resection in combination with RFA is a safe and effective method in the treatment of HGD and intramucosal carcinoma, with higher rates of remission and no significant differences in complication rates when compared to the use of RFA alone.
RESUMEN
AIM: To compare the diagnostic accuracy of video capsule endoscopy (VCE) and double-balloon enteroscopy (DBE) in cases of obscure gastrointestinal bleeding (OGIB) of vascular origin. METHODS: MEDLINE (via PubMed), LILACS (via BVS) and Cochrane/CENTRAL virtual databases were searched for studies dated before 2017. We identified prospective and retrospective studies, including observational, cohort, single-blinded and multicenter studies, comparing VCE and DBE for the diagnosis of OGIB, and data of all the vascular sources of bleeding were collected. All patients were subjected to the same gold standard method. Relevant data were then extracted from each included study using a standardized extraction form. We calculated study variables (sensitivity, specificity, prevalence, positive and negative predictive values and accuracy) and performed a meta-analysis using Meta-Disc software. RESULTS: In the per-patient analysis, 17 studies (1477 lesions) were included. We identified 3150 exams (1722 VCE and 1428 DBE) in 2043 patients and identified 2248 sources of bleeding, 1467 of which were from vascular lesions. Of these lesions, 864 (58.5%) were diagnosed by VCE, and 613 (41.5%) were diagnosed by DBE. The pretest probability for bleeding of vascular origin was 54.34%. The sensitivity of DBE was 84% (95%CI: 0.82-0.86; heterogeneity: 78.00%), and the specificity was 92% (95%CI: 0.89-0.94; heterogeneity: 92.0%). For DBE, the positive likelihood ratio was 11.29 (95%CI: 4.83-26.40; heterogeneity: 91.6%), and the negative likelihood ratio was 0.20 (95%CI: 0.15-0.27; heterogeneity: 67.3%). Performing DBE after CE increased the diagnostic yield of vascular lesion by 7%, from 83% to 90%. CONCLUSION: The diagnostic accuracy of detecting small bowel bleeding from a vascular source is increased with the use of an isolated video capsule endoscope compared with isolated DBE. However, concomitant use increases the detection rate of the bleeding source.