Objective To explore endoscopic characteristics and pathological changes of esophageal low-grade intraepithelial neoplasm (LGIN) as well as its risk factors. Methods A total of 201 LGIN lesions from 169 cases were included from January 2009 to August 2017. The endoscopic characteristics and pathological changes were analysis. Logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the risk factors of LGIN. The endoscopic morphologic findings of esophageal mucosa lesions and the pathological findings of simple inflammatory lesions were enrolled as controls. Results LGIN occurred more common in elderly patients, the ratio of male to female was 2.5∶1. The maximum transverse and the maximum longitudinal diameter (MLD) were (0.9±0.8) cm，(1.4±1.3) cm, respectively. The most common location of lesion was in the middle segment of esophagus (52.2%). The morphological types of lesions were dominantly 0-Ⅱb (45.8%) and 0-Ⅱa (31.8%). There were 42 LGIN lesions with reflux esophagitis. Multiple dysplastic lesions accounted for 57.4%. After (10.3±12.1) months follow-up, 58.2% lesions were pathological reversal with 24.9% （50/201） of the lesion completely disappeared, and 28.9% lesions had no pathological changes, but 12.9% （26/201） lesions progressed to high-grade intraepithelial neoplasia and invasive cancer. Multivariate analysis indicated that age （compared to <45 years old） and longitudinal diameter of the lesion （compared to ≤0.5 were independent risk factors for LGIN. The risk of esophageal LGIN in lesions with MLD > 0.5-1 cm was 1.96 times higher than that in lesions with MLD ≤ 0.5 cm. Conclusion The MLD of esophageal mucosal lesions >0.5 cm and age >45 years old may increase the possibility of esophageal LGIN. Close follow-up is required for LGIN lesions with MLD>1 cm.
