Six EndoFLIP posters presented at Digestive Disease Week 2010

Thursday 6th May 2010

There were six posters featuring the EndoFLIP technology presented at Digestive Disease Week, 2010 in New Orleans this week. Monika Kwiatek PhD from Northwestern University, Chicago presented data on a new application of the EndoFLIP system for assessing the distensibility of the esophagus in patients with a condition called eosiniphilic esophagitis, sometimes referred to as “asthma of the esophagus”.

The data demonstrated how the stiffness of the wall of the esophagus can be measured and how it differs from the distensibility of a normal esophagus. This technique offers the potential for reducing the need for multiple endoscopies and biopsies in the course tracking the course of patients who are being treated with oral steroids for this condition. Barry McMahon PhD from Trinity College Dublin presented first data on the use of EndoFLIP for assessing the upper esophageal sphincter in patients with neurogenic dysphagia.

He also presented data on the use of EndoFLIP for assessing the structural changes in the gastroesophageal junction at different stages after endoluminal GERD surgery. John O’Dea PhD from Crospon presented data related to lap band surgery, which demonstrated how lap band fill volume varies significantly from patient to patient for a given stoma size. The work, supported by the Wellcome Trust, also showed that, on average after one year after surgery, a lap band requires a fill of 4mL greater than that required at the time of surgery, further emphasizing the need for lap band adjustments to be made measuring stoma size directly, since it is not possible to generalize as to what band fill volume any given patient will need to achieve a desired stoma size.

Finally, Johannes Lenglinger MD from the University of Vienna, Austria presented a case study on how measuring esophageal distensibility using EndoFLIP enabled the detection of a stomach carcinoma not otherwise detectable by endoscopy.

  Click here to view the poster: