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Background and Aim: Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is a promising, minimally invasive treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, thermal injury sometimes occurs in the bile duct, potentially leading to a critical situation. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether bile duct injury is reduced by an intraductal chilled saline perfusion (ICSP) through a nasobiliary tube during RFA for HCC. Patients and Methods: The baseline incidence of bile duct injury at Gifu Municipal Hospital was 3.1% (13 patients) in 424 patients with HCC treated by percutaneous RFA. In all patients, the tumor was within 5 mm of the central bile duct on CT images. The incidence of bile duct injury was 46% among the 28 selected patients whose tumor was close to the central bile duct. To prevent complications in such high-risk patients, we placed a nasobiliary tube endoscopically before RFA, and performed ICSP during RFA. Forty consecutive patients with tumors close to the central bile duct were enrolled in this study. Results: Of the 40 enrolled patients, only one had biliary injury, whereas the remaining 39 patients were able to avoid it. The incidence of biliary injury was significantly reduced in the ICSP group (1/40, 2.5%) compared to that in the control group (13/28, 46%) (P

Endoscopic nasobiliary drainage (ENBD) is a well established mode of biliary decompression. Although ENBD is certainly an uncomfortable procedure with the potential risk of spontaneous dislocation or removal of the drainage catheter by disoriented patients, it has several advantages over endoscopic biliary drainage (EBD) using an indwelling stent. The current indications for ENBD are: (i) temporary drainage to treat obstructive jaundice and cholangitis caused by malignant or benign biliary stricture; (ii) urgent drainage to treat suppurative cholangitis primarily caused by common bile duct stones; (iii) temporary drainage after stone removal in patients with suspected incomplete clearance and/or with cholangitis; and (iv) biliary leaks that occur primarily after surgery, as well as other indications. Different types of nasobiliary catheters are currently available that have been designed with various diameters, shapes, and materials. However, the current catheters are not considered by most endoscopists to be sufficient. Further improvements are needed to achieve better drainage and better maneuverability.

A 17-year-old woman was admitted because of a liver tumor found incidentally by ultrasonography. Liver function was normal and there were no markers of hepatitis viruses or malignancy. Abdominal ultrasonography, computed tomography (CT), and magnetic resonance imaging revealed a mass (2 cm in diameter) in the lateral segment of the left lobe of the liver. The lesion was not detected by hepatic arteriography. However, dynamic CT with fast scanning and dynamic CO2-enhanced ultrasonography demonstrated initial central enhancement of the mass followed by centrifugal spread of enhancement to the periphery. Color Doppler flow imaging detected a central color spot, shown to be an artery by a pulsed Doppler spectrum analysis. Fine-needle biopsy confirmed a diagnosis of focal nodular hyperplasia. Dynamic CT with fast scanning, dynamic CO2-enhanced ultrasonography, and color Doppler flow imaging were useful in detecting the vascular pattern specific to focal nodular hyperplasia. Investigation of further cases with these novel imaging modalities should help to establish a comprehensive diagnostic procedure and thus avoid unnecessary surgery for focal nodular hyperplasia, which is a completely benign lesion.

An extremely rare case of esophageal metastasis from prostate cancer is reported. A 65-year-old man presented with anorexia and back pain. Upper gastrointestinal X-ray fluoroscopy and endoscopy revealed a shallow longitudinal ulcer, with converging mucosal folds, approximately 5 cm above the esophagogastric junction. The histological diagnosis of the biopsied specimen was adenocarcinoma. Blood biochemistry revealed elevated serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and gamma-seminoprotein levels. Ultrasonography of the prostate disclosed a hypoechoic lesion in the left lobe, and needle biopsy led to the diagnosis of prostatic adenocarcinoma. Since there was no finding suggestive of a primary lesion, apart from that in the prostate, we conducted reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for PSA. PSA-positive mRNA was demonstrated in the tissue of the esophageal tumor. There are three reports on metastasis to the esophagus from prostate cancer, but this is the first case of esophageal metastasis from prostate cancer without any evidence of metastasis to other organs. The importance of RT-PCR for the diagnosis of primary lesions of metastatic cancer is discussed.

The diagnosis of lymphadenopathy after treatment of malignancy is sometimes difficult, especially in patients whose treatment was deemed curative and without local recurrence or those who have increased serum levels of related tumor markers. We aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) as a diagnostic tool in patients with lymphadenopathy after curative treatment of malignancy.Consecutive patients with mediastinal, intraabdominal, or pelvic lymphadenopathy after curative treatment of malignancy who were referred to our hospital between October 2003 and September 2007 were enrolled in this study.A total of 62 patients were included. The lymph nodes were located at the mediastinum in 22 patients, intraabdomen in 38 patients, and intrapelvis in 2 patients. From the pathological findings of the FNA sample, 31 patients (50%) were confirmed to have recurrence of the prior malignancy, and 9 patients (15%) were diagnosed as having a different new malignancy. The remaining 22 patients (35%) were shown to have no recurrence or no other malignancies. However, 1 of them was later diagnosed with recurrence by open laparotomy. The overall sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, and positive and negative predictive values of the EUS-FNA were 97%, 100%, 98%, 100%, and 97%, respectively.Lymphadenopathy after treatment of malignancy is not a definitive sign of recurrence. Therefore, pathological sampling and diagnosis are essential for determining the appropriate treatment. For this purpose, EUS-FNA is a safe, convenient, and minimally invasive procedure with high diagnostic value.

patients receiving intensive oncologic therapy is unclear. Aim: To evaluate the clinical outcomes of patients following SEMS placement and identify risk factors for SEMS related adverse events (AE). Methods: Consecutive patients undergoing enteral SEMS placement for treatment of duodenal obstruction resulting from primary pancreatic or biliary malignancy at a single tertiary care center between 2008 and 2014 were retrospectively identified. Subjects were excluded if 1) a surgical bypass or Whipple resection had been performed prior to SEMS placement 2) no follow up data was available. Demographics, clinical characteristics, success rates and SEMS related adverse events (AE) were recorded. AE were categorized as early (!7 days) and late (O7 days). Results: 130 patients (average age 65.6 10.1 years, 47.7% female) underwent SEMS placement for palliation of duodenal obstruction due to PB cancer. The technical success of SEMS placement was 100% and there were no immediate complications. 33 patients were excluded, 8 had undergone a surgical bypass prior to SEMS placement, and 25 due to lack of follow up data. 97 patients (average age 65.3+/-9.8 years, 46.4% female) met the inclusion and exclusion criteria. There were 4 early AEs [3 stent occlusions, 1 gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding]. 31 (32.0%) patients experienced late SEMS related AE. AEs included 24 stent occlusions, 7 GI bleeds, and 3 perforations. SEMS related AEs were not associated with baseline demographics or post-stent cancer therapy (table 1). SEMS related adverse events were treated with repeat endoscopic intervention in 17, surgery in 3, and supportive measures in 11 cases. Following SEMS placement 30 patients underwent repeat upper endoscopy for evaluation and treatment of suspected complications. On Kaplan-Meyer analysis, the median time to a SEMS related AE was 225 (95% CI, 126-323) days. When patients were stratified on the basis of post-SEMS oncologic therapy (chemotherapy vs. chemo-radiation vs. palliative care alone) there was no difference in the median time to SEMS related AE (figure 1, log rank pZ0.43). Conclusion: SEMS placement is a safe and effective treatment of malignant duodenal obstruction in patients with locally advanced PB cancer. While 32% of patients do develop SEMS related AE during long term follow up, the majority of these are amendable to endoscopic intervention. Finally, we observed that aggressive oncologic therapy is not associated with an increased rate of SEMS related AEs.