Faculty Bibliography

GOALS/BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE:Patients who "no-show" for colonoscopy or present with poor bowel preparation waste endoscopic resources and do not receive adequate examinations for colorectal cancer (CRC) screening. Using the Health Belief Model, we modified an existing patient education pamphlet and evaluated its effect on nonattendance rates and bowel preparation quality. STUDY/METHODS:We implemented a color patient education pamphlet to target individual perceptions about CRC and changed bowel preparation instructions to include a low-residue diet instead of the previous clear liquid diet. We compared the nonattendance rate over a 2-month period before and after the introduction of the pamphlet, allowing for a washout period during which pamphlet use was inconsistent. We compared the Boston Bowel Preparation Scale (BBPS) in 100 consecutive patients who underwent colonoscopy during each of the 2 periods. RESULTS:Baseline characteristics between the 2 groups were similar, although patients who received the pamphlet were younger (P=0.03). The nonattendance rate was significantly lower in patients who received the pamphlet (13% vs. 21%, P=0.01). The percentage of patients with adequate bowel preparation increased from 82% to 86% after introduction of the pamphlet, although this was not statistically significant (P=0.44). The proportion of patients with a BBPS score of 9 was significantly higher in the pamphlet group (41% vs. 27%, P=0.03). There was no difference in adenoma and sessile serrated adenoma detection rates before and after pamphlet implementation. CONCLUSIONS:After implementing a theory-based patient education intervention with a low-residue diet, our absolute rate for colonoscopy nonattendance decreased by 8% and the proportion of patients with a BBPS score of 9 increased by 14%. The Health Belief Model appears to be a useful construct for CRC screening interventions.

Barrett esophagus (BE) is the precursor lesion to adenocarcinoma of the esophagus. The current surveillance strategy of 4-quadrant Seattle protocol biopsies has been associated with sampling error and missing higher-risk lesions, and there is often less adherence to endoscopic surveillance with long segments. Advancements in endoscopic imaging and sampling techniques allow for better surveillance of BE, particularly when assessing for dysplasia. This article highlights the key endoscopic imaging and sampling advancements in the evaluation of dysplasia in BE.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: High-resolution microendoscopy (HRME) is a novel, low-cost "optical biopsy" technology that allows for subcellular imaging. The study aim was to evaluate the learning curve of HRME for the differentiation of neoplastic from non-neoplastic colorectal polyps. METHODS: In a prospective cohort fashion, a total of 162 polyps from 97 patients at a single tertiary care center were imaged by HRME and classified in real time as neoplastic (adenomatous, cancer) or non-neoplastic (normal, hyperplastic, inflammatory). Histopathology was the gold standard for comparison. Diagnostic accuracy was examined at three intervals over time throughout the study; the initial interval included the first 40 polyps, the middle interval included the next 40 polyps examined, and the final interval included the last 82 polyps examined. RESULTS: Sensitivity increased significantly from the initial interval (50%) to the middle interval (94%, P = 0.02) and the last interval (97%, P = 0.01). Similarly, specificity was 69% for the initial interval but increased to 92% (P = 0.07) in the middle interval and 96% (P = 0.02) in the last interval. Overall accuracy was 63% for the initial interval and then improved to 93% (P = 0.003) in the middle interval and 96% (P = 0.0007) in the last interval. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, this in vivo study demonstrates that an endoscopist without prior colon HRME experience can achieve greater than 90% accuracy for identifying neoplastic colorectal polyps after 40 polyps imaged. HRME is a promising modality to complement white light endoscopy in differentiating neoplastic from non-neoplastic colorectal polyps.

OBJECTIVES: High-resolution microendoscopy (HRME) is a low-cost, "optical biopsy" technology that allows for subcellular imaging. The purpose of this study was to determine the in vivo diagnostic accuracy of the HRME for the differentiation of neoplastic from non-neoplastic colorectal polyps and compare it to that of high-definition white-light endoscopy (WLE) with histopathology as the gold standard. METHODS: Three endoscopists prospectively detected a total of 171 polyps from 94 patients that were then imaged by HRME and classified in real-time as neoplastic (adenomatous, cancer) or non-neoplastic (normal, hyperplastic, inflammatory). RESULTS: HRME had a significantly higher accuracy (94%), specificity (95%), and positive predictive value (PPV, 87%) for the determination of neoplastic colorectal polyps compared with WLE (65%, 39%, and 55%, respectively). When looking at small colorectal polyps (less than 10 mm), HRME continued to significantly outperform WLE in terms of accuracy (95% vs. 64%), specificity (98% vs. 40%) and PPV (92% vs. 55%). These trends continued when evaluating diminutive polyps (less than 5 mm) as HRME's accuracy (95%), specificity (98%), and PPV (93%) were all significantly greater than their WLE counterparts (62%, 41%, and 53%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, this in vivo study demonstrates that HRME can be a very effective modality in the differentiation of neoplastic and non-neoplastic colorectal polyps. A combination of standard white-light colonoscopy for polyp detection and HRME for polyp classification has the potential to truly allow the endoscopist to selectively determine which lesions can be left in situ, which lesions can simply be discarded, and which lesions need formal histopathologic analysis.