Role of dual red imaging to guide intravariceal sclerotherapy injection of esophageal varices (with videos).

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Dual red imaging (DRI) is a novel image-enhanced endoscopy technique that can increase the visibility and predict the depth of esophageal varices (EVs). The recurrence rate of EVs after endoscopic injection sclerotherapy (EIS) reportedly decreases by intravariceal injection of a sclerosant. We evaluated prospectively whether the EIS success rate was increased by DRI compared with the white-light imaging (WLI) mode.

METHODS: A total of 79 patients with EVs were randomly divided into the DRI (n = 40) and WLI (n = 39) groups. The primary endpoint was the success rate of intravariceal injection on the first EIS puncture. The secondary endpoint was the recurrence rate. A variable puncture needle was used, and the length was adjusted according to the EV visibility change by DRI. In the WLI group, DRI was not used.

RESULTS: The success rate of the first puncture was significantly higher in the DRI group than in the WLI group (80.0% vs 46.2%; P = .0018). The cumulative recurrence rate was significantly lower in the DRI group (P = .031). The sum of the depth and luminal diameter of EVs was investigated by EUS. The Pearson correlation coefficient between this value and the needle length was higher in the DRI group than in the WLI group (r = 0.878 vs 0.603).

CONCLUSIONS: DRI increased the EIS success rate and decreased the recurrence rate. This resulted from the puncture needle adjustment to the appropriate length via EV depth prediction by DRI.