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When treating patients who have Barrett esophagus with high-grade dysplasia (HGD) or intramucosal carcinoma (IMC), physicians often use the presence of occult submucosal invasive carcinoma to guide their choice between surgical or local ablative therapy. Some studies have estimated the rate of submucosal invasion in patients treated with esophagectomy to be 40%, but others reported substantially lower rates (Arch Pathol Lab Med 2005; 129:177 and Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol 2008; 6:159).
To determine prevalence more accurately, investigators conducted a retrospective study involving 60 patients with BE who had undergone esophagectomy at a single high-volume referral center. Presurgery esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) and biopsy samples reveale…