Esophageal capsule endoscopy in patients refusing conventional endoscopy for the study of suspected esophageal pathology

Abstract

Esophageal capsule endoscopy is an adequate alternative diagnostic method for the study of gastroesophageal reflux disease and for the screening of esophageal varices in patients refusing to undergo conventional upper gastrointestinal endoscopy.

Comparison of esophageal capsule endoscopy and esophagogastroduodenoscopy for diagnosis of esophageal varices

“…Results of a survey of practicing gastroenterologists suggested an even lower screening rate of 39% [23] . Alternative methods to EGD have been studied for variceal screening, including transnasal endoluminal ultrasound [24] , platelet count/spleen diameter ratio [25] , multidetector computed tomography esophagography [26] , and esophageal capsule endoscopy [10,11,27] . To date, no method has proven accurate enough to replace EGD.…”

“…There has been some concern about the mixed results of capsule endoscopy use for evaluation of esophageal pathology, such as varices, Barrett's esophagus, or esophagitis [27][28][29] . It is thought that the mixed results of capsule endoscopy may have to do with deviations from the standard ingestion procedure recommended by the manufacturer [30] .…”

Recent developments in capsule endoscopy

“…The overall results were relatively poor, meaning that OCE is unlikely to replace OGD in non-specific indications or in those who refuse OGD, as proposed by some authors 47. However, these data have been criticised because of the relatively small size of this trial with regard to the number of indications and because the STARD recommendation of an intention-to-diagnose analysis was not followed.…”

Esophageal Capsule Endoscopy for Screening Esophageal Varices among Japanese Patients with Liver Cirrhosis

“…Several reports have indicated that ECE can provide clear images of esophageal diseases, including Barrett's esophagus and esophagitis [11–14], and that it is useful for detecting EV [5, 13, 15]. However, few such reports have been generated from Asian countries, including Japan.…”