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The use of endoscopic retrograde cholangiography (ERCP) for diagnostic and therapeutic interventions on the pancreaticobiliary system has steadily increased, but the standard approach through the oropharynx is prohibited after Roux-en-Y (RYGB) gastric bypass surgery. Laparoscopic access to the gastric remnant allows for the completion of ERCP using the standard side-viewing duodenoscope to facilitate the completion of standard and advanced endoscopic maneuvers. Here, we describe our experience with the technical aspects of safe and effective performance of laparoscopic-assisted ERCP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Gastrojejunal strictures (GJS) are rare but significant adverse events following Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass, with limited options for effective non-operative interventions. Lumen-apposing metal stents (LAMS) represent a new therapy for treatment of intestinal strictures, but the effectiveness in treating GJS is unknown. This study aims to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of LAMS in GJS. Methods: This is a prospective, observational study of patients with prior Roux-en-Y Gastric bypass who underwent LAMS placement for GJS. The primary outcome of interest is resolution of GJS following LAMS removal defined by toleration of bariatric diet after LAMS removal. Secondary outcomes include need for additional procedures, LAMS-related adverse events, and need for revisional surgery. Results: Twenty patients were enrolled. The cohort was 85% female with median age of 43. 65% had marginal ulcers associated with the GJS. Presenting symptoms included nausea and vomiting (50% of patients), dysphagia (50%), epigastric pain (20%), and failure to thrive (10%). Diameter of LAMS placed were 15 mm in 15 patients, 20 mm in 3 patients, and 10 mm in 2 patients. LAMS were placed for a median of 58 days (IQR 56–70). Twelve patients (60%) achieved resolution of GJS after LAMS removal. Of the eight patients without GJS resolution or with recurrence, seven (35%) required repeat placement of LAMS. One patient was lost to follow up. One perforation and two migrations occurred. Four patients required revisional surgery after LAMS removal. Conclusion: LAMS placement is well-tolerated and effective with most patients achieving short-term symptom resolution and with few reported complications. While stricture resolution occurred in over half the patients, nearly 1/4th of patients required revisional surgery. More data is needed to predict who would benefit from LAMS versus surgical intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVES:Symptom eradication in patients with Barrett's esophagus (BE) does not guarantee control of acid or duodenogastroesophageal reflux (DGER). Continued reflux of acid and/or DGER may increase risk of neoplastic progression and may decrease the likelihood of columnar mucosa eradication after ablative therapy. To date, no study has addressed whether both complete acid and DGER control is possible in patients with BE. This prospective study was designed to assess the effect of escalating-dose proton pump inhibitor (PPI) therapy on esophageal acid and DGER.METHODS:Patients with BE (≥3 cm in length) underwent simultaneous ambulatory prolonged pH and DGER monitoring after at least 1 week off PPI therapy followed by testing on therapy after 1 month of twice-daily rabeprazole (20 mg). In those with continued acid and/or DGER, the tests were repeated after 1 month of double-dose (40 mg twice daily) rabeprazole. The primary study outcome was normalization of both acid and DGER. Symptom severity was assessed on and off PPI therapy employing a four-point ordinal scale.RESULTS:A total of 29 patients with BE consented for pH monitoring, of whom 23 also consented for both pH and DGER monitoring off and on therapy (83% male; mean age 58 years; mean body mass index 29; mean Barrett's length 6.0 cm). Median (interquartile range) total % time pH <4 and bilirubin absorbance >0.14 off PPI therapy were 18.4 (11.7-20.0) and 9.7 (5.0-22.2), respectively. In addition, 26/29 (90%) had normalized acid and 18/23 (78%) had normalized DGER on rabeprazole 20 mg. Among those not achieving normalization on 20 mg twice daily, 3/3 (100%) had normalized acid and 4/5 (80%) had normalized DGER on rabeprazole 40 mg twice daily. All subjects had symptoms controlled on rabeprazole 20 mg twice daily. Univariate analysis found no predictor for normalization of physiologic parameters based on demographics.CONCLUSIONS:Symptom control does not guarantee normalization of acid and DGER at standard dose of twice-daily PPI therapy. Normalization of acid and DGER can be achieved in 79% of BE patients on rabeprazole 20 mg p.o. twice daily, and in the majority of the remainder at high-dose twice-daily PPI. In patients undergoing ablative therapy, pH or DGER monitoring may not be needed to ensure normalization of reflux if patients are treated with high-dose PPI therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study which investigates the use of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) for nosocomial upper gastrointestinal tract bleeding (UGIB) prophylaxis and the effects of standardized guidelines on it. The guidelines were implemented in Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts for analysis and PPI utility among inpatient admissions before its implementation was also investigated. Results show that low PPI utility was evident during the implementation of the guidelines.

Background: It is not known whether there have been recent changes in demographic or clinical characteristics among patients newly diagnosed with Barrett's esophagus (BE), which could be a result of changes in disease epidemiology or of screening or surveillance effects, and could have clinical implications.Aims: The aim of this study was to determine whether there has been a shift in age at diagnosis of BE over the past decade. Secondary aims were to determine whether there has been a shift in patient body mass index (BMI) or BE segment length.Methods: An endoscopic database at a tertiary medical center was used to identify all esophagogastroduodenoscopies (EGDs) performed between 1997 and 2007. The cohort was restricted to patients newly diagnosed with BE. Pathology records were reviewed to confirm biopsy findings of intestinal metaplasia (IM).Results: BE was diagnosed in 378 subjects between 1997 and 2007. Mean age at diagnosis of BE was 60.7 +/- 14.1 years, with mean BMI of 27.4 +/- 5.2 kg/m(2) and mean BE segment length of 4.7 +/- 3.7 cm. Between 1997 and 2007 there was no significant change in mean age at diagnosis, BMI, BE segment length or in proportion of men versus women newly diagnosed.Conclusions: Despite an increase in volume of EGDs performed in an open-access endoscopy unit between 1997 and 2007, there was no appreciable shift in age at diagnosis of BE. BMI and BE segment length among newly diagnosed patients also remained stable over this time period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Details of the deaths of patients I cared for during medical training are seared into the joint tableaux of my memory and manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article the author offers views on the treatment of Barrett's oesophagus (BO)-associated mucosal neoplasia-high-grade dysplasia (HGD). He mentions that the entity of BO containing low-grade dysplasia (LGD) presents, perhaps, the greatest challenge in the rational selection of endoscopic management of BO. He also mentions that epidemiological investigation has prompted a recalibration of the risk of BO neoplastic progression.

A review is presented of the article "Proton Pump Inhibitor Treatment Initiated Prior to Endoscopic Diagnosis in Upper Gastrointestinal Bleeding" by A. Sreedharan et al., which appeared in a 2010 issue of the "Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews".

Background and aims: Biliary drainage using endoscopic ultrasound (EUS-BD) has been developed as a novel technique to obtain biliary access and drainage when ERCP fails. Numerous studies have demonstrated its safety and efficacy specifically pertaining to those with malignant distal biliary obstruction or altered foregut anatomy. The aim of this study is to evaluate the safety and efficacy of EUS-BD in benign indications in patients with normal foregut anatomy. Methods: We performed a retrospective comparative study from 5 academic medical centers (2008–2018) involving patients with benign biliary obstruction and native foregut anatomy who had an initial failed ERCP with subsequent attempt at biliary decompression via EUS-BD or by repeating ERCP. Results: 36 patients (mean age 61.6 ± 2.2, 38.9% female) who underwent attempted EUS-BD following initial failed ERCP were compared to 50 patients (mean age 62.7 ± 2.3, 73.5% female) who underwent repeat ERCP following an initial failed cannulation. EUS-BD was technically successful in 28 (77.8%) patients with rendezvous being the most common approach (86.1%). A higher level of pre-procedural bilirubin was found to be associated with technical success of EUS-BD (3.65 ± 0.63 versus 1.1 ± 0.4, p value 0.04). Success of repeat ERCP following failed cannulation was 86%. Adverse events were significantly more frequent in the EUS-BD cohort when compared to the repeat ERCP (10 (27.8%) versus 4 (8.0%), p = 0.02, OR 4.32. Conclusions: EUS-BD remains a viable therapeutic option in the setting of benign biliary disease, with success rates of 77.8%. Adverse events were significantly more common with EUS-BD vs. repeat ERCP, emphasizing the need to perform in expert centers with appropriate multidisciplinary support and to strongly consider the urgency of biliary decompression before considering same session EUS-BD after failed initial biliary access. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: While single‐use and detachable‐tip duodenoscopes have been recently developed to overcome risks of infection transmission, there are no reliable tools to objectively assess their technical performance. We evaluated the reliability and validity of a newly developed tool to assess the technical performance of reusable duodenoscopes. Methods: An assessment tool was developed to measure duodenoscope performance based on three distinct criteria: maneuverability, mechanical/imaging characteristics and ability to perform requisite interventions. The assessment tool was tested prospectively on duodenoscopes used in endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) procedures at nine academic medical centers over a 6‐month period. The main outcome was reliability of the duodenoscope assessment tool, which was estimated using Cronbach's coefficient alpha (α). The secondary outcome was validity of the assessment tool. Results: The assessment tool evaluated technical performance of reusable duodenoscopes in 1080 ERCP procedures. Indications were biliary in 92.8% and pancreatic in 7.2% procedures. The overall Cronbach's coefficient α for maneuverability was 0.81, assessment of mechanical/imaging characteristics was 0.92, and ability to perform requisite interventions was 0.87. On multiple linear regression analysis, prolonged procedure duration, older patient age and pancreatic interventions were significantly positively associated with higher (worse) scores. Conclusions: The newly developed assessment tool appears reliable and valid for evaluating the technical performance of duodenoscopes. Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04004533. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aim: Enteral stents (ES) have emerged as first-line therapy for the treatment of malignant gastric outlet obstruction (GOO). Stent occlusion arising from tissue ingrowth may require endoscopic or surgical reintervention. The objective of this study was to compare rates of reintervention following palliative ES for patients with GOO due to pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PDAC) versus other malignant etiologies. Methods: Patients who had undergone ES for palliation of malignant GOO between 2009 and 2018 were retrospectively identified and demographic, clinical, and procedural data were collected. Primary outcome was procedural reintervention for recurrent symptomatic GOO following ES placement. Results: Forty-three patients were included in the study cohort. 62.8% (27/43) of patients had PDAC while 37.2% (16/43) of patients had other malignant etiologies. 11.6% (5/43) of patients were alive at follow-up. Thirty-day and 90-day mortality rates were 22.8% and 70.7% for PDAC and 25% and 56.3% for other malignant etiologies, respectively. Seven patients required reintervention for symptomatic GOO: 14.3% (1/7) had PDAC and 85.7% (6/7) had GOO due to other malignancy (P <.01). Ninety-six percent (26/27) of patients with PDAC required no further intervention for GOO prior to death or end of follow-up. On multivariate analysis, patients with PDAC were significantly less likely to require reintervention than patients with other malignant etiologies (OR 0.064, 95% CI 0.01–0.60). Conclusion: ES offer durable symptom palliation without requirement for reintervention for the overwhelming majority of patients with malignant GOO due to PDAC. Reintervention rates are higher following ES placement for GOO due to other malignant etiologies and future study may be needed to define the optimal palliative intervention for this group of patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Larger caliber lumen-apposing stents (LAMSs) have been increasingly used in the management of pancreatic fluid collections, specifically when solid debris is present; however, their advantages over smaller caliber plastic stents in the management of pancreatic pseudocysts are unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the safety and efficacy of LAMS specifically in the management of pancreatic pseudocysts compared with double-pigtail plastic stents (DPPSs).Methods: We performed a multicenter, international, retrospective study between January 2012 and August 2016. A total of 205 patients with a diagnosis of pancreatic pseudocysts were included, 80 patients received LAMSs and 125 received DPPSs. Measured outcomes included clinical success, technical success, adverse events, stent dysfunction, pancreatic pseudocyst recurrence, and need for surgery.Results: Technical success was similar between the LAMS and the DPPS groups (97.5 % vs. 99.2 %; P = 0.32). Clinical success was higher for LAMSs than for DPPSs (96.3 % vs. 87.2 %; P = 0.03). While the need for surgery was similar between the two groups (1.3 % vs. 4.9 %, respectively; P = 0.17), the use of percutaneous drainage was significantly lower in the LAMS group (1.3 % vs. 8.8 %; P = 0.03). At 6-month follow-up, the recurrence rate was similar between the groups (6.7 % vs 18.8 %, respectively; P = 0.12). The rate of adverse events was significantly higher in the DPPS group (7.5 % vs. 17.6 %; P = 0.04). There was no difference in post-procedure mean length of hospital stay (6.3 days [standard deviation 27.9] vs. 3.7 days [5.7]; P = 0.31).Conclusion: When compared to DPPSs, LAMSs are a safe, feasible, and effective modality for the treatment of pancreatic pseudocysts and are associated with a higher rate of clinical success, shorter procedure time, less need for percutaneous interventions, and a lower overall rate of adverse events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human papillomavirus (HPV) causes a number of neoplastic diseases in humans. Here, we show a complex normal HPV community in a cohort of 103 healthy human subjects, by metagenomics analysis of the shotgun sequencing data generated from the NIH Human Microbiome Project. The overall HPV prevalence was 68.9%and was highest in the skin (61.3%), followed by the vagina (41.5%),mouth (30%), and gut (17.3%). Of the 109 HPV types as well as additional unclassified types detected, most were undetectable by the widely used commercial kits targeting the vaginal/cervical HPV types. These HPVs likely represent true HPV infections rather than transitory exposure because of strong organ tropism and persistence of the same HPV types in repeat samples. Coexistence of multiple HPV types was found in 48.1%of the HPV-positive samples. Networking between HPV types, cooccurrence or exclusion, was detected in vaginal and skin samples. Large contigs assembled from short HPV reads were obtained from several samples, confirming their genuine HPV origin. This first large-scale survey of HPV using a shotgun sequencing approach yielded a comprehensive map of HPV infections among different body sites of healthy human subjects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Endoscopic therapy has emerged as an alternative to surgical esophagectomy for the management of Barrett's esophagus (BE)-associated neoplasia. Accurate pretreatment staging is essential to ensure an appropriate choice of therapy and optimal long-term outcomes. This study aimed to assess the frequency with which expert histopathologic review of biopsies combined with endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) would alter the pretreatment diagnosis of BE-associated neoplasia. Methods: Patients referred to the Vanderbilt Barrett's Esophagus Endoscopic Treatment Program (V-BEET) were retrospectively identified. Demographic, histopathologic, and endoscopic data were extracted from the medical record. Results: For this study, 29 subjects referred for endoscopic staging of BE fulfilled the entry criteria. The referral diagnosis was low-grade dysplasia (LGD) in 3 % (1/29), high-grade dysplasia (HGD) in 62 % (18/29), intramucosal adenocarcinoma (T1a) adenocarcinoma in 17 % (5/29), and invasive adenocarcinoma in 17 % (5/29) of the subjects. Expert histopathologic review of available referral biopsy specimens altered the diagnosis in 33 % (5/15) of the cases. Further diagnostic staging with EMR showed BE without dysplasia in 10 % (3/29), LGD in 14 % (4/29), HGD in 34 % (10/29), T1a adenocarcinoma in 28 % (8/29), and invasive adenocarcinoma in 14 % (4/29) of the patients. The combination of expert histopathologic review and EMR altered the initial diagnosis for 55 % (16/29) of the subjects, with 56 % (9/16) upstaged to more advanced disease and 44 % (7/16) downstaged to less advanced disease. Conclusions: The practice of combined expert histopathologic review and EMR alters the pretreatment diagnosis for the majority of patients with BE-associated neoplasia. Caution is advised for those embarking on endoscopic or surgical treatment for BE-associated neoplasia in the absence of these staging methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVES: Although evidence suggests that aspirin and celecoxib may reduce the risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) in patients with Barrett's esophagus (BE), these drugs can also cause harmful side effects. Our aim was to determine and characterize preferences for these two drugs in patients with BE. METHODS: Preferences data were collected from recruited BE patients using a customized questionnaire, which incorporated standard risk communication techniques. Summary profiles outlined the benefits and harms of celecoxib and aspirin presented anonymously. Both drugs were portrayed as reducing the risk of EAC and increasing the risk of GI events. However, celecoxib increased the risk of myocardial infarction (MI) while aspirin reduced the risk. Factors influencing patient acceptance of each drug were analyzed. RESULTS: One hundred of 109 (92%) subjects completed the study. Under base case conditions, 15% stated that they would take celecoxib and 76% aspirin ( P < 0.0001). Patients identified the greater risk of MI as the primary reason for their unwillingness to take celecoxib and the lower risk of EAC for aspirin. Even in scenarios in which the benefits of celecoxib were improved and the harms reduced, a majority continued to find it unacceptable. CONCLUSIONS: A majority of those surveyed stated that they would take aspirin but would not take celecoxib. Most patients are interested in EAC chemoprevention, but the amount of protection and the side effect profile of a drug determine its acceptability. These data can inform physicians regarding the tradeoffs patients are willing to consider for chemoprevention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]