Cases with John Lipham, MD

Developing an algorithm for Barrett’s esophagus

John Lipham, MD, is a professor of clinical surgery and chief of upper GI and general surgery at Keck School of Medicine of USC. Since adopting TissueCypher, he and his team have developed an algorithm for managing patients with non-dysplastic Barrett’s esophagus.

“It’s helping to decrease overutilization of endoscopy and surveillance [for low-risk patients],” says Dr. Lipham.

“On the other hand, if they come back as intermediate or high risk… those are the patients that are jumping at the chance to get rid of their Barrett’s at that point because they now know that their risk is higher than the standard non-dysplastic patient.”

See Dr. Lipham's TissueCypher case studies

Long segment and TissueCypher low risk

A 38-year-old male with long-segment Barrett’s esophagus and a low-risk TissueCypher emphasized the need to consider all the factors of the case.

“So to me, all those [clinical factors] point to a little bit higher risk. But then we combine that with the TissueCypher results of lower risk, and I think, here, we meet in the middle.”

See the case details below.

Short segment and TissueCypher high risk

A 77-year-old white male visited Dr. Lipham for a surveillance endoscopy. In the past, this patient had chronic GERD that had become controlled via PPIs and an anti-reflux procedure. But while the patient’s clinical risk factors suggested low risk, TissueCypher results returned high risk.

“This guy probably would have been lost to follow-up, but because of this [TissueCypher] result we talked to him about ablation of his Barrett’s ,” says Lipham.

See the case details below.

If they come back as intermediate or high risk... those are the patients that are jumping at the chance to get rid of their Barrett's at that point because they now know that their risk is higher than the standard non-dysplastic patient.

John C. Lipham, MD