Patients with small and diminutive proximal hyperplastic polyps have higher rates of synchronous advanced neoplasia compared with patients without serrated lesions.

Background And Aims: The association of proximal small and diminutive hyperplastic polyps (HPs) with synchronous advanced neoplasia is not well-defined. However, sessile serrated polyps (SSPs), even when small, are known to portend a risk of synchronous neoplasia. Currently, the U.S. Multi-Society Task Force on Colorectal Cancer does not recommend a change in the surveillance interval when proximal small HPs are detected. We aimed to compare the rates of synchronous advanced neoplasia in a screening colonoscopy cohort of patients with small and then diminutive proximal HPs in comparison, first to a cohort absent any serrated or proximal HPs and then in comparison with a cohort with small proximal SSPs.

Methods: Consecutive screening colonoscopies were recorded between 2005 and 2010 at an academic medical center. Patients were divided into 3 mutually exclusive groups. Group 1 consisted of patients with at least 1 HP that was proximal to the sigmoid colon, <1 cm in endoscopic size, and up to 3 total HPs in number. Group 2 included patients without any proximal HPs or SSPs. Group 3 consisted of patients with 1 to 2 SSPs, with at least 1 being proximal to the sigmoid colon, that were <1 cm in endoscopic size and without dysplasia. Rates of synchronous advanced neoplasia in patients with small (<1 cm) and diminutive (≤5 mm) proximal HPs were compared with the rates for the other 2 groups.

Results: There were 482 of 2569 patients (18.8%) with a small proximal HP who met the criteria for Group 1. The rate of synchronous advanced neoplasia in patients with a small proximal HP (61/482, 12.7%) was significantly greater compared with the average risk in the non-serrated cohort (Group 2, 133/1878, 7.1%; P < .001). There was no significant difference in the rate of synchronous advanced neoplasia when the small proximal HP group was subdivided by size (≤5 mm, 51/404, 12.6% vs 6-9 mm, 10/78, 12.8%; P = 1.00). The rate of synchronous advanced neoplasia in patients with diminutive (≤5 mm) proximal HPs (51/404, 12.6%) was not significantly different from the rate observed with proximal SSPs of similar size (17/113, 15.0%; P = .529).

Conclusion: Patients with small and diminutive proximal HPs tend to harbor higher rates of synchronous advanced neoplasia compared with those without any serrated lesions detected on screening colonoscopy. Surveillance outcomes for metachronous advanced neoplasia for patients with small proximal HPs deserves further study. The synchronous advanced neoplasia rate in patients with proximal diminutive HPs is similar to that of proximal diminutive SSPs and could have implications in a resect and discard strategy.