A systematic review of fully circumferential inlet patches (heterotopic gastric mucosa): More complicated than regular inlet patches

Background and Objectives: Inlet patches (IP) are usually small islands of ectopic gastric mucosa found in the proximal esophagus, but rare cases of large, fully circumferential IP (FCIP) have been reported. To better understand the clinical course of patients with FCIP, we sought to perform a systematic review of all published cases. Methods: A systematic review of cases of FCIP was performed according to Preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analysis (PRISMA) guidelines after thorough searches of PubMed and journal databases for appropriate cases. No restrictions were placed as to article type, country of origin or publication year. Results: Total 30 cases of FCIP from 27 articles were identified. These included patients from 10 different countries published between 1985 and 2024. The mean age was 55.7 with 82.1% men and a mean circumferential IP length of 3.4 cm. A majority of patients were symptomatic with dysphagia and/or a history of food impactions (72.4%). Most cases involved complications from the IP, including a benign stricture/ring/web (20, 66.7%), adenocarcinoma (4, 13.3%) or ulcers/erosions (2, 6.7%). The benign strictures were usually treated by dilation together with anti-secretory medication (10, 50%) or just dilation or medication. The adenocarcinoma cases were treated by surgery (two cases) or endoscopic resection (two cases), while the ulcer cases were treated medically. All cases with follow-up reported a good clinical outcome. Conclusions: Patients with FCIP are frequently symptomatic with dysphagia or food impactions and often have complications, including a stricture/ring or cancer. Despite this, they have good clinical outcomes. Given the risk of malignancy, endoscopic surveillance may be warranted.