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Background: We evaluated first the feasibility of endoscopic small-bowel polypectomy and second, the economic aspects, by comparing the cost of endoscopic and surgical polyp resection., Methods: A prospective, observational, multicenter study included 494 patients with positive capsule endoscopy (CE) before double-balloon enteroscopy (DBE). We selected only CE with at least one polyp. The retrospective economic evaluation compared patients treated by DBE or surgery for small-bowel polypectomy. Hospital readmission because of repeat polyp resection or complication-related interventions was noted. The 1-year cost was estimated from the viewpoint of the healthcare system and included procedures, hospital admissions and follow up., Results: CE indicated one or more polyps in 62 (12.5%) patients (32 males, 49 ± 5 years), all of whom underwent a successful DBE exploration. The DBE polyp diagnostic yield was 58%. There were no major complications. A total of 26 (42%) patients in the DBE group and 19 (39%) in the control group required hospital readmission. All readmissions in the DBE group were for repeat procedures to remove all polyps, and in the control group, for surgical complications. The total cost of the initial hospitalization (€4014 ± 2239 DBE versus €11,620 ± 7183 surgery, p < 0.0001) and the 1-year total cost (€8438 ± 9227 DBE versus €13,402 ± 7919 surgery, p < 0.0001) were lower in the DBE group., Conclusions: Endoscopic polypectomy was efficient and safe. The total cost at 1 year was less for endoscopy than surgery. DBE should be proposed as the first-line treatment for small-bowel polyp resection., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest statement: The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

Aim: To investigate the feasibility of small bowel polypectomy using double balloon enteroscopy and to evaluate the correlation with capsule endoscopy (CE)., Methods: This is a retrospective review of a single tertiary hospital. Twenty-five patients treated by enteroscopy for small bowel polyps diagnosed by CE or other imaging techniques were included. The correlation between CE and enteroscopy (correlation coefficient of Kendall for the number of polyps, intra-class coefficient for the size and coefficient of correlation kappa for the location) was evaluated., Results: There were 31 polypectomies and 12 endoscopic mucosal resections with limited morbidity and no mortality. Histological analysis revealed 27 hamartomas, 6 adenomas and 3 lipomas. Strong agreement between CE and optical enteroscopy was observed for both location (Kappa value: 0.90) and polyp size (Kappa value: 0.76), but only moderate agreement was found for the number of polyps (Kendall value: 0.47)., Conclusion: Double balloon enteroscopy is safe for performing polypectomy. Previous CE is useful in selecting the endoscopic approach and to predicting the difficulty of the procedure.

Objectives: Capsule endoscopy (CE) allows for the assessment of the small bowel in numerous intestinal diseases, including celiac disease (CD). The main advantage of CE is the complete visualization of the intestinal mucosal surface. The objective of this study was to investigate whether CE can predict the severity of CD and detect complications., Methods: We retrospectively studied the medical files of 9 patients with symptomatic CD, 11 patients with refractory celiac disease type I (RCDI) and 18 patients with refractory celiac disease type II (RCDII), and 45 patients without CD who were investigated both CE and upper endoscopy or enteroscopy. The type of CD was diagnosed on the basis of a centralized histological review, flow cytometry analysis of intraepithelial lymphocytes, and the analysis of T-cell receptor rearrangement by multiplex polymerase chain reaction., Results: A total of 47 CEs (10, 11, and 26 CEs in the symptomatic CD, RCDI, and RCDII groups, respectively) from the 38 celiac patients and 47 CEs from the 45 nonceliac patients were retrospectively reviewed. Villous atrophy, numerous, or distally located ulcers were more frequent in celiac patients than in controls. Among celiac patients, CE was of acceptable quality in 96% of cases and was complete in 62% of cases. The concordance of CE with histology for villous atrophy was better than that of optic endoscopy (κ coefficient =0.45 vs. 0.24, P<0.001). Extensive mucosal damage on CE was associated with low serum albumin (P=0.003) and the RCDII form (P=0.02). Three cases of overt lymphoma were detected by CE during the follow-up., Conclusions: CE findings have a satisfactory concordance with histology and nutritional status in patients with symptomatic or refractory CD. Moreover, CE may predict the type of RCD and allows for the early detection of overt lymphoma.

Background: Video capsule endoscopy is the first-intention examination in patients with obscure GI bleeding. The new MiroCam capsule, when using electric-field propagation for transmission, has been poorly evaluated in a clinical setting, in contrast with the PillCam SB2 capsule., Objective: To evaluate the diagnostic concordance (κ value) between PillCam SB2 and MiroCam capsule examinations performed in the same patients., Design and Setting: Prospective, randomized study in 7 endoscopy units., Patients and Intervention: Eighty-three consecutive patients, ingesting the 2 capsules at a 1-hour interval., Results: Seventy-three patients were analyzed (10 technical issues). There were 31 concordant negative cases (42.4%) and 30 concordant positive cases (41.1%). The study showed satisfactory diagnostic concordance between the 2 systems (κ = 0.66). In 12 patients (16.4%), the final diagnosis was different: 9 patients had positive findings on MiroCam examination but no image detected with PillCam SB2, 2 had positive findings on PillCam examination only, and 1 patient had 2 different diagnoses. A positive diagnosis was obtained in 46.6% and 56.2% of patients with PillCam SB2 and MiroCam capsule, respectively, so that the procedures identified 78.6% and 95.2% of positive cases, respectively (P = .02). Small-bowel transit time and capsule reading time were significantly longer in MiroCam procedures., Limitations: Technical failures possibly related to capsule interference., Conclusion: This study shows at least comparable efficiency of the MiroCam compared with the PillCam SB2 capsule system for the diagnosis of obscure GI bleeding., (Copyright © 2011 American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background and Aims: The position of capsule endoscopy (CE) relative to push enteroscopy (PE) in the diagnostic algorithm of obscure gastrointestinal bleeding is unclear, as previous studies involved the use of both techniques in all patients. We therefore conducted a trial in which patients were randomized to undergo one or other exploration., Methods: All consecutive patients referred for obscure gastrointestinal bleeding were randomized between CE and PE as the first-line exploration. The alternative method was only used if the first-line method revealed no definite bleeding source, or if required for clinical reasons during follow-up., Results: CE and PE, used as the first-line exploration, identified a bleeding source in 20 of 40 patients and 9 of 38 patients, respectively (50% vs 24%; P = .02). CE missed lesions in 8% of patients, and all these lesions were located in sites accessible to standard endoscopy. PE missed lesions in 26% of patients. At the end of the 12-month follow-up period, the strategy based on CE as first-line exploration followed by PE if necessary only was similar to PE followed by CE in terms of diagnostic yield, clinical outcome, and therapeutic impact, but reduced the percentage of patients needing the alternative exploration (25% vs 79%; P < .001)., Conclusions: CE has a higher diagnostic yield than PE in obscure gastrointestinal bleeding, and a strategy based on CE as first-line exploration avoids unnecessary explorations.

Background: Endoscopic sphincterotomy can benefit patients with suspected biliary pancreatitis, although there are procedure-related complications. EUS can be used to select patients for endoscopic sphincterotomy. The results of this strategy were assessed., Methods: Information on patients referred for EUS were recorded in a database. One hundred twenty-three patients with suspected biliary pancreatitis (57 men, 66 women; median age 55 years) were included and followed. All underwent EUS followed by endoscopic sphincterotomy during the same procedure if choledocholithiasis was identified. Outcomes were studied in relation to the initial severity of biliary pancreatitis (Ranson and Balthazar scores), presence of stones, and time span between onset of biliary pancreatitis and EUS plus endoscopic sphincterotomy., Results: Thirty-five patients (28%) had a Ranson score greater than 3 on admission and 38 (31%) were Balthazar D-E. The median time from admission to EUS was 3 days. EUS imaging of the bile duct was complete in all but 3 patients. Thirty-three patients (27%) had choledocholithiasis on EUS and underwent endoscopic sphincterotomy. Stones were more frequent in patients with jaundice (p < 0.005) and when EUS was performed less than 3 days after admission (p < 0.05). One hundred patients (81%) recovered without complication. Two patients (1.6%) died, 1 had recurrent BP develop, 6 (5%) had further biliary symptoms, and 16 (13%) had complications of pancreatitis develop (9 pseudocysts). There were 3 mild endoscopic sphincterotomy-related complications (complication rate 6.5%)., Conclusions: In this series in which endoscopic sphincterotomy was performed selectively depending on the endosonographic presence or absence of ductal stones early in the course of the pancreatitis, and not according to its predicted severity, mortality and complications of endoscopic sphincterotomy were low and unrelated to the predicted severity of biliary pancreatitis or the presence of choledocholithiasis. Controlled trials are needed to confirm the superiority of this strategy compared with ERCP alone for the management of biliary pancreatitis.