Usefulness of endoscopic submucosal dissection for type I gastric carcinoid tumors compared with endoscopic mucosal resection.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Gastric carcinoid tumors (GCTs) often extends into the submucosa, and are therefore difficult to resect completely by using conventional endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR). Endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) allows en bloc resection of submucosal gastrointestinal lesions. Therefore, ESD may be a feasible method for complete resection of GCT. Our purpose is to clarify the usefulness of ESD for treatment of type I GCT. METHODOLOGY: Between 1998 and 2011, EMR or ESD was performed for 13 lesions in 12 patients with type I GCTs. Among the 13 GCTs, 6 were resected using EMR, and 7 were removed using ESD. RESULTS: All lesions were histologically classified as Grade 1. The depth of invasion was the mucosa for 1 lesion and the submucosa for 12 lesions. The horizontal margins of excision were negative for all lesions; however, the vertical margins were positive in 4 lesions (66.7%) in the EMR group and no lesions (0%) in the ESD group. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study suggest that ESD for small type I GCT is better to achieve complete resection than conventional EMR. ESD would be an effective technique for the treatment of small type I GCT.