Confocal Endomicroscopy for Improved Diagnosis of Barrett's Esophagus and Early Esophageal Cancer(CEBE Study)

Endomicroscopy (EM) can improve the diagnosis Barrett's esophagus (BE) and some early esophageal cancers (Intra Epithelial Neoplasia (IEN)). EM provides optical biopsies comparable to standard histology. Specifically, EM allows targeted biopsy rather than random mucosal biopsy during routine endoscopic surveillance of BE or evaluation EIN, which will improve the diagnostic yield of mucosal samples for BE IEN. Furthermore, when combined with high resolution endoscopy, EM may improve the overall in vivo detection of IEN in lesions as well as flat mucosa. EM will provide accurate place and size of IEN which will impact the physician's decision to biopsy or perform endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR). This could potentially minimize the number of unnecessary biopsies and as well as enable the physician to perform EMR at the time of the initial examination, rather than delaying endoscopic treatment after the pathology is available. This study is important because it will validate single center studies supporting the routine use of EM for screening and surveillance of BE.