title: Red flag imaging in Barrett's esophagus: does it help to find the needle in the haystack?
abstract: Esophageal Adenocarcinoma (EAC) has suffered a sharp increase on its incidence for the last decades, and it is associated with a poor prognosis. Barrett's Esophagus (BE) is the most important identifiable risk factor for the progression to esophageal adenocarcinoma. The key to prevent and provide a curative treatment of esophageal adenocarcinoma is the detection and eradication of early neoplasia in patients with esophagus. Endoscopic surveillance is evolving from a blind or random four quadrant biopsies protocol (Seattle protocol) to a more targeted approach. A detailed white light examination with high-resolution endoscopy is the cornerstone for recognition of early neoplastic lesions in BE. Additional imaging modalities may enhance targeting of lesions or provide more information at a focused level. There are emerging data that some of these new modalities can increase the yield of detecting dysplasia, although its routine use has yet to be validated.
authors.affiliation: Center for Endoscopic Research and Therapeutics (CERT), The University of Chicago Medicine and Biological Sciences, Center for Care and Discovery, 5700 S Maryland Ave. MC 8043, Chicago, IL 60637, USA. Electronic address: Mariano.Gonzalez-HabaRuiz@uchospitals.edu.
authors.forename: Mariano
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gonzalez-Haba
authors.affiliation: Center for Endoscopic Research and Therapeutics (CERT), The University of Chicago Medicine and Biological Sciences, Center for Care and Discovery, 5700 S Maryland Ave. MC 8043, Chicago, IL 60637, USA. Electronic address: iwaxman@medicine.bsd.uchicago.edu.
authors.forename: Irving
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Waxman
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000175:diagnosis*; D001471:Barrett Esophagus / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003952:Diagnostic Imaging / Q000379:methods; D018450:Disease Progression; D055088:Early Detection of Cancer; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D004945:Esophagoscopy / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D012307:Risk Factors
keywords: Advanced imaging; Barrett's Esophagus; Red flag techniques