Brief Article
Copyright ©2013 Baishideng Publishing Group Co., Limited. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Nov 7, 2013; 19(41): 7106-7113
Published online Nov 7, 2013. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v19.i41.7106
Photodynamic therapy vs radiofrequency ablation for Barrett’s dysplasia: Efficacy, safety and cost-comparison
Atilla Ertan, Irum Zaheer, Arlene M Correa, Nirav Thosani, Shanda H Blackmon
Atilla Ertan, Nirav Thosani, Ertan Digestive Disease Center, Memorial Hermann Hospital, Texas Medical Center, Houston, TX 77030, United States
Atilla Ertan, Nirav Thosani, Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX 77030, United States
Atilla Ertan, Irum Zaheer, Division of Gastroenterology, The Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX 77030, United States
Arlene M Correa, Division of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030, United States
Shanda H Blackmon, Department of Surgery, The Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX 77030, United States
Author contributions: Ertan A performed all the procedures and designed the study; Ertan A, Blackmon S and Zaheer I collected the data; Correa A and Thosani N analyzed the data; Ertan A, Blackmon S and Thosani N wrote the manuscript.
Correspondence to: Atilla Ertan, MD, Professor, Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, 6400 Fannin St, suite 1400, Houston, TX 77030, United States. atilla.ertan@uth.tmc.edu
Telephone: +1-713-7045928 Fax: +1-713-7043485
Received: May 12, 2013
Revised: July 21, 2013
Accepted: August 17, 2013
Published online: November 7, 2013
Core Tip

Core tip: Barrett’s esophagus containing dysplasia confers an elevated risk for developing esophageal adenocarcinoma. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) and radiofrequency ablation (RFA) have both been shown in randomized controlled trials to eradicate Barrett’s dysplasia (BD) and reduce the risk for disease progression. We compared the effectiveness, safety, and cost of PDT and RFA in managing BD in consecutive case series performed at single center by single endoscopist. We found that RFA had significantly higher rate of complete histological resolution of Barrett’s dysplasia and it was five times less costly than PDT at our institute compared to PDT.