ABSTRACT
Introduction: Endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) is a minimally invasive technique used for removal of superficial dysplastic or early cancerous colon and rectal lesions. For larger lesions ( .20mm) that are not amenable to endoscopic mucosal resection, superficial biopsies are typically taken prior to referral for ESD. The aim of this study was to evaluate the degree of concordance between superficial forceps biopsies and ESD pathology. Method(s): A retrospective medical record review was performed including consecutive patients who underwent ESD of colon and rectal lesions at a tertiary care center between 10/2018 and 11/2021. Pathology results from outside hospital and same institution pre-ESD superficial forceps biopsies were compared to ESD pathology results. The primary outcome was the number of patients found to have higher disease severity on ESD pathology compared with superficial forceps biopsies. Result(s): Of the 84 patients who underwent ESD of colon or rectal lesions, 72 had pre-ESD superficial forceps biopsies which were taken at an outside hospital (n=48) or at the same institution (n=36). The average length of time between outside hospital superficial forceps biopsies and ESD was 91 days compared to 75 days for those performed at the same institution. Delays between superficial forceps biopsies and ESD may be related to the COVID-19 pandemic prolonging time between procedures. Pathology findings after ESD differed from superficial forceps biopsies in 31/72 patients (43%) with 21 patients receiving upgraded disease severity and 6 patients receiving a new cancer diagnosis based on ESD pathology. Patients who received a new cancer diagnosis had more days between superficial forceps biopsies and ESD compared with the whole cohort (86 vs 75, respectively). Conclusion(s): While superficial forceps biopsies of colon and rectal lesions were typically concordant with ESD pathology, 29% of patients in this cohort received upgraded disease severity based on ESD pathology. This shows that while superficial forceps biopsies can aid in diagnosis, en bloc resection via ESD remains critical for accurate diagnosis of large colon and rectal lesions. These results also show that ESD is not only diagnostic but therapeutic given 75% of the patients in this cohort achieved R0 resection.
ABSTRACT
DDW 2022 Author Disclosures: Daniel Scanlon: NO financial relationship with a commercial interest ;Brianna Shinn: NO financial relationship with a commercial interest ;Zachary Lieb: NO financial relationship with a commercial interest ;Brian Jacobs: NO financial relationship with a commercial interest ;Divya Chalikonda: NO financial relationship with a commercial interest ;Jason Ho: NO financial relationship with a commercial interest ;Abhishek Agnihotri: NO financial relationship with a commercial interest ;Anand Kumar: YES financial relationship with a commercial interest;Olympus:Consulting ;Anthony Infantolino: NO financial relationship with a commercial interest ;Christina Tofani: NO financial relationship with a commercial interest ;Alexander Schlachterman: NO financial relationship with a commercial interest Introduction: Endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) is a minimally invasive technique used for removal of superficial dysplastic or early cancerous esophageal lesions. Many of these lesions arise in a background of Barrett’s esophagus (BE) which is a known precursor of dysplasia and adenocarcinoma. Large lesions not amenable to endoscopic mucosal resection often have superficial forceps biopsies taken prior to referral for ESD. This study aims to evaluate the accuracy of superficial forceps biopsies compared with pathology from ESD. Methods: A retrospective medical record review was performed that included consecutive patients who underwent ESD for esophageal lesions at a tertiary care center between 6/2018 and 9/2021. Pathology results from outside hospital and same institution superficial forceps biopsies as well as ESD pathology reports were reviewed. The primary outcome measured was the number of patients found to have higher disease severity on ESD pathology compared with pre-ESD superficial forceps biopsies. Results: The 28 patients included in the study received superficial forceps biopsies at outside hospitals (n=9), the same institution (n=14), or both (n=5). An average of 99 days occurred between outside hospital superficial forceps biopsies and ESD compared with an average of 30 days between superficial forceps biopsies and ESD performed at the same institution. Delays between superficial forceps biopsies and ESD may be related to the COVID-19 pandemic leading to prolonged time between procedures. In the entire cohort, ESD pathology differed from superficial forceps biopsies in 13/28 patients (46%). 10 patients (36%) had their disease severity upgraded and 3 were newly diagnosed with cancer on ESD pathology. Findings were similar for patients with lesions arising in a background of BE (21/28) (Table 1). Of those with BE, 9/21 (43%) patients had ESD pathology that differed from superficial forceps biopsies with 6 patients (29%) receiving increased disease severity and 2 patients receiving a new cancer diagnosis on ESD pathology. Conclusion: Superficial forceps biopsies taken prior to resection of esophageal lesions via ESD were concordant with ESD pathology in the majority of cases, however 36% of patients received upgraded disease severity on ESD pathology. Findings were similar for patients with or without a background of Barrett’s esophagus. These results highlight the importance of en bloc resection not only for therapeutic benefit (60% of patients in this cohort achieved R0 resection), but for accurate staging of esophageal lesions. [Formula presented]