Abstract
According to recent, advances in endoscopic technology, including magnification and image-enhanced endoscopy, it is possible to view the surface vascular structures in esophageal squamous cell tumors and early stage esophageal cancers, so called superficial neoplastic lesions of the esophagus (SNLsE), including intraepithelial neoplasms and superficial carcinomas. The authors therefore focused on characteristic findings in capillaries in SNLsE, and considered the possible histological factors that may reflect the endoscopic findings. Using surgically resected SNLsE obtained from a total of 16 cases, the authors quantitated the metrics of the form of these factors and looked for a relationship between histological grade and invasion depth. The non-tumor components and tumor lesion components were classified into seven groups (G0-G6) on the basis of histological grade and invasion depth. Epithelial thickness, vessel caliber, and the position of most shallow vessel were measured under an optical microscope using a micrometer and the mean values were calculated; the mean of those measurements and the histological factors were compared. Epithelial thickness measurements showed a statistically significant tendency to increase. Regarding vessel caliber, the mean diameter increased and showed a positive relationship as grade of intraepithelial lesions, and invasion depth of invasive lesions increased. In SNLsE, epithelial thickness and vessel caliber of the capillaries tended to increase with histological grade and invasion depth. These results were consistent with the change in the images of vascular structures obtained using NBI for the diagnosis of invasion depth. The above suggests that the trend in the capillaries is associated with changes in the epithelium, and the degree of endoscopic findings of rubefaction and extension of vascular-like structures may reflect endoscopic findings.
