title: Sixteen-year follow-up of Barrett's esophagus, endoscopically treated with argon plasma coagulation.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The thermal destruction of non-dysplastic Barrett's esophagus (BE) and its replacement by squamous epithelium is an attractive, but unproven strategy to avoid further development of dysplasia or cancer. The goal of this study was to estimate the persistence of restoration of squamous epithelium and the risk of cancer in BE that was eradicated using argon plasma coagulation (APC) in the absence of high-grade dysplasia, 16 years after its application.
  
  
  METHODS
  We followed 32 patients with BE who underwent eradication of metaplastic epithelium using APC, up to 16 years later.
  
  
  RESULTS
  At the end of the initial treatment, 25 of 32 patients (78%) had complete endoscopic eradication, there was partial squamous re-epithelialization in four patients (13%) and it was absent in three patients (9%). We observed buried metaplastic glands under new squamous epithelium in 6 of the 25 patients who had complete endoscopic eradication. At follow-up, sustained complete endoscopic eradication was observed in 16 of 32 patients (50%), partial eradication in 11 of 32 patients (35%); there were two patients (6%) lost to follow-up and three patients (9%) developed esophageal adenocarcinoma. Two of the latest cases arose from the buried glands under neosquamous epithelium after complete eradication and one arose from a small remaining Barrett's segment.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We observed long-term re-epithelialization in the majority of patients who had previously had complete eradication of Barrett's esophagus. This did not provide protection against cancer development, as the incidence of cancers arising from buried glands or from residual Barrett's esophagus was similar to that observed in patients undergoing no specific treatment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatopancreatology and Digestive Oncology, ERASME Hospital, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Mariana
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Milashka
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatopancreatology and Digestive Oncology, ERASME Hospital, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Annabelle
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Calomme
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatopancreatology and Digestive Oncology, ERASME Hospital, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Jean Luc
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Van Laethem
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatopancreatology and Digestive Oncology, ERASME Hospital, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Blero
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatopancreatology and Digestive Oncology, ERASME Hospital, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Eisendrath
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatopancreatology and Digestive Oncology, ERASME Hospital, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Le Moine
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatopancreatology and Digestive Oncology, ERASME Hospital, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Jacques
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Devière
keywords: Argon plasma coagulation; Barrett’s esophagus; buried glands; endoscopic ablation; esophageal cancer; metaplastic epithelium