To the editor: We are grateful to Drs. Zhang, Wu, Zhou and Xu for their additional analysis of our data with their well‐performed cumulative meta‐analysis. With the findings that their analysis confirms our findings, particularly with regard to intestinal metaplasia and dysplasia, it helps us to reinforce the need for careful inspection and sampling of Barrett's mucosa before and early after radiofrequency ablation to rule out the presence of prevalent lesions. This cumulative analysis also notes, however, that clear proof that high grade dysplasia (HGD)/cancer detection within the first year of endoscopic therapy is not equal to or greater than that found in subsequent endoscopies is also important. Nevertheless, the practical point is that, even if the rates of developing HGD/cancer in the first year are close to that of subsequent years, it is more than enough reason to apply the principle that early and careful endoscopic follow‐up after ablation is performed to find undetected advanced lesions. Whether our data and this additional analysis will lead to guideline changes merits further exploration.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
Guarantor of the article: David A. Katzka, MD.
Specifc author contributions: T.S. and D.A.K. wrote the letter.
Financial support: None.
Potential competing interests: D.A.K.: pharmaceutical trial with Shire. The other author declares that he has no conflict of interest.
Footnotes
Correspondence: D.A.K. (email: Katzka.david@mayo.edu)