A study presented at the American Diabetes Association 2016 Scientific Sessions in New Orleans showed promising results in diabetic patients who underwent endoscopic duodenal mucosal resurfacing, also known as the Revita procedure, according to Medscape.
Alan D. Cherrington, PhD, professor of medicine and molecular physiology and biophysics at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, and colleagues enrolled 44 patients with type 2 diabetes at the same center. Thirty-nine of those patients underwent the Revita procedure. All the patients had a glycated hemoglobin of 7.5 percent to 12 percent and were taking one or more antidiabetic agents. About a third of the patients had a 3.4-cm section of the duodenum ablated, and the remaining patients had a 9.3-cm section of the duodenum ablated.
Here are five points:
1. Providers successful treated the few complications patients presented during six months of follow-up.
2. At six months, the Revita procedure reduced the average glycated hemoglobin 1.2 percent from baseline. The glycated hemoglobin reductions were greater in the patients who had received an ablation of the duodenum's longer section.
3. Glycated hemoglobin reductions were present across a glycated hemoglobin baseline despite reduced diabetes medications use.
4. The BAARX ablation procedure of abnormal esophageal tissue in patients with Barrett's esophagus inspired this study's research.
5. Dr. Cherrington said a large international follow-up trial is underway.