Usefulness of magnifying endoscopy in post-endoscopic resection scar for early gastric neoplasm: a prospective short-term follow-up endoscopy study.

Aim: To investigate the relationship between post-endoscopic resection (ER) scars on magnifying endoscopy (ME) and the pathological diagnosis in order to validate the clinical significance of ME.

Methods: From January, 2007 to June, 2008, 124 patients with 129 post-ER scar lesions were enrolled. Mucosal pit patterns on ME were compared with conventional endoscopy (CE) findings and histological results obtained from targeted biopsies.

Results: CE findings showed nodular scars (53/129), erythematous scars (85/129), and ulcerative scars (4/129). The post-ER scars were classified into four pit patterns of sulci and ridges on ME: (I) 47 round; (II) 54 short rod or tubular; (III) 19 branched or gyrus-like; and (IV) 9 destroyed pits. Sensitivity and specificity were 88.9% and 62.5%, respectively, by the presence of nodularity on CE. Erythematous lesions were high sensitivity (100%), but specificity was as low as 36.7%. The range of the positive predictive value (PPV) on CE was as low as 10.6%-25%. Nine type IV pit patterns were diagnosed as tumor lesions, and 120 cases of type I-III pit patterns revealed non-neoplastic lesions. Thus, the sensitivity, specificity, and the PPV of ME were 100%.

Conclusion: ME findings can detect the presence of tumor in post-ER scar lesions, and make evident the biopsy target site in short-term follow-up. Further large-scale and long-term studies are needed to determine whether ME can replace endoscopic biopsy.