What treatment is available for Barrett’s esophagus?
Dr. Mavrelis: Ablation is a new treatment that uses radiofrequency to peel away a millimeter of tissue from the lining of the esophagus. Ablation may help a lot of people who are going down that road to esophageal cancer and reverse that trend. I have done the procedure on around 25 patients using a technology called the HALO360, a device made by BÂRRX Medical. Reflux1: How well are the procedures that gastroenterologists are exploring received by the medical community and patients? Dr. Mavrelis: We use techniques that are evolving, and there are no long-term large studies completed yet. But in smaller trials what we do has been proven to be effective. Patients are interested because of the chronic nature of heartburn and GERD. While there are non-medical treatments that can be effective, it is very difficult to get people to lose weight, or not eat late at night or quit smoking. So behavior modification can help, but it’s difficult to get people to comply.
