Abstract
The narrow band imaging (NBI) system is a new illumination method for medical endoscopes in which the spectral bandwidth of the filtered light is narrowed. Until recently, iodine staining was recommended for finding superficial esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). However, unpleasant reactions such as heartburn or discom-fort sometimes occur after iodine staining. NBI, combined with magnified observation, clearly enhances the microvascular structure of the organ surface, allows us to easily detect a superficial neoplastic lesion as a clearly demarcated brownish area, without having to resort iodine staining. IPCL (intra-papillary capillary loop) pattern observed by magnifying endoscopy is expected to become as a marker for tissue structural atypism and invasion depth of cancer. On NBI observation, IPCL pattern were more clearly demonstrated with a better contrast to the background. NBI may be a promising and powerful tool to identify squamous cell carcinoma at an earlier stage in esophagus. In addition, NBI enables us to predict the diagnosis of specialized intestinal metaplasia and adenocarcinoma in Barrett's esophagus. Herein, we described the NBI findings of superficial lesions in the esophagus.
