A novel non-endoscopic screening device for Barrett’s oesophagus, which can be used by a general practice nurse, may make screening at-risk patients for the condition cost-effective, a study in the BMJ suggests.
The ingestible gelatine capsule containing a compressed mesh attached to a string achieved 90% sensitivity and 93.5% specificity among a population of more than 500 patients who had a 3% prevalence of the disease.
“The Cytopsponge test is a safe and well tolerated method to screen for Barrett’s oesophagus that can be carried out in a primary care setting,” the study authors concluded.
Out of 501 patients, there were thirty false positives, six of which had some evidence of columnar lined epithelium but did not fulfull the diagnostic...
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