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Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Competing Interests: T. Inoue has received honoraria from Japan Lifeline Co., Ltd, unrelated to the submitted work. R. Kitano, M. Ibusuki, Y. Kobayashi, K. Ito, and M. Yoneda declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

BACKGROUND : Endoscopic stone extraction is often challenging in patients with a significant lower bile duct corner pocket, where small stones are likely to escape and become impacted. This study aimed to determine the utility of different types of baskets for retrieving corner pocket stones. METHODS : Seven types of retrieval baskets were evaluated on silicone models. The study outcomes included the characteristics of each basket and technical success rates associated with the retrieval of stones impacted in the corner pocket. RESULTS : The overall success rate was only 27.5 %, with significant differences between the baskets ( P  < 0.001). Only three baskets yielded successful removal. The success rates were 10 %, 25 %, and 70 % with the 8-wire Nitinol Basket, RASEN, and VorticCatch V, respectively, all of which are helical eight-wire baskets. RASEN and VorticCatch V share similar characteristics, including a strong spiral wire and smaller interwire spaces at their distal ends. The addition of rotation significantly increased the success rate to 80 % with the 8-wire Nitinol Basket ( P  < 0.001) and 90 % with RASEN ( P  < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS : Robust helical eight-wire baskets with smaller interwire spaces at the tip may be effective for extracting corner pocket stones, while the addition of rotational motion may improve the efficacy of retrieval., Competing Interests: T. Inoue has received honoraria from Boston Scientific Japan and KANEKA, outside of the submitted work. The remaining authors declare that they have no conflict of interest., (Thieme. All rights reserved.)

Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Competing Interests: Dr. Inoue has received honoraria from Boston Scientific Japan and Japan Lifeline Co., Ltd. All other authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Background: The effectiveness of endobiliary radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is still uncertain, especially in patients with malignant hilar biliary obstruction (MHBO). We examined the efficacy of endobiliary RFA followed by bilateral self-expandable metal stent (SEMS) placement for unresectable MHBO., Methods: 41 patients met the eligibility criteria for study inclusion. We evaluated the technical success, functional success, and recurrent biliary obstruction (RBO) associated with RFA with bilateral SEMS placement., Results: The technical and functional success rates were both 95.1 % (39/41). The RBO rate was 38.5 % (15/39), and the median time to RBO was 230 days. Stricture length was positively correlated with time to RBO in the multivariate analysis ( P  = 0.03). The median time to RBO was significantly longer in patients with strictures > 15 mm in length than in those with strictures ≤ 15 mm (314 vs. 156 days; P  = 0.02)., Conclusions: The present study showed that endobiliary RFA with bilateral SEMS placement achieved good results, but selection of patients with an appropriate stricture length may be needed to obtain a sufficient ablative effect., Competing Interests: Dr. Inoue has received honoraria from Boston Scientific Japan and Japan Lifeline Co., Ltd. All other authors declare that they have no conflict of interest relevant to this publication., (© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.)

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Competing Interests: Competing interests: None

Competing Interests: Competing interests: None