Improved Visibility of Barrett's Esophagus with Linked Color Imaging: Inter- and Intra-Rater Reliability and Quantitative Analysis.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: To evaluate the usefulness of linked color imaging (LCI) and blue LASER imaging (BLI) in Barrett's esophagus (BE) compared with white light imaging (WLI).

METHODS: Five expert and trainee endoscopists compared WLI, LCI, and BLI images obtained from 63 patients with short-segment BE. Physicians assessed visibility as follows: 5 (improved), 4 (somewhat improved), 3 (equivalent), 2 (somewhat decreased), and one (decreased). Scores were evaluated to assess visibility. The inter- and intra-rater reliability (intra-class correlation coefficient) of image assessments were also evaluated. Images were objectively evaluated based on L* a* b* color values and color differences (ΔE*) in a CIELAB color space system.

RESULTS: Improved visibility compared with WLI was achieved for LCI: 44.4%, BLI: 0% for all endoscopists; LCI: 55.6%, BLI: 1.6% for trainees; and LCI: 47.6%, BLI: 0% for experts. The visibility score of trainees compared with experts was significantly higher for LCI (p = 0.02). Intra- and inter-rater reliability ratings for LCI compared with WLI were "moderate" for trainees, and "moderate-substantial" for experts. The ΔE* revealed statistically significant differences between WLI and LCI.

CONCLUSION: LCI improved the visibility of short-segment BE compared with WLI, especially for trainees, when evaluated both subjectively and objectively.