Magnifying endoscopy with narrow-band imaging findings in the diagnosis of Barrett's esophageal adenocarcinoma spreading below squamous epithelium.

It has been described that most cases of Barrett's esophageal adenocarcinoma in Japan are cases of Barrett's esophageal adenocarcinoma on a background of short-segment Barrett's esophagus, frequently occurring rostrad to Barrett's epithelium, adjacent to the squamous epithelium of the right wall of the esophagogastric junction. Barrett's esophageal adenocarcinoma may spread below the squamous epithelium when the tumor is situated adjacent to the squamocolumnar junction, so that it is usually difficult to diagnose its presence and extent by conventional endoscopy alone. We have noted that the spread of Barrett's esophageal adenocarcinoma below the squamous epithelium is recognizable as annular vascular formations (AVF) by magnifying endoscopy with narrow-band imaging (ME-NBI), and have verified it by 3-D stereo-reconstruction using serial sections from a specimen of the same lesion. When horizontal cross-sections of the tissue were viewed from the surface, AVF emerged at a depth of approximately 100 μm from the surface and disappeared at a depth of approximately 300 μm. Therefore, it would be presumed to be difficult to visualize the characteristic structural features by ME-NBI if the carcinomatous glandular ducts were situated deeper than approximately 300 μm underneath a thick layer of squamous epithelium. Thickness of the overlying squamous epithelium may be a limiting factor for whether or not the characteristic structural features can be detected.