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Objective: The Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) is the treatment of choice for biliary obstruction but is associated with post-ERCP pancreatitis (PEP) in around 5 % of cases. No radiological criteria have been evaluated for predicting PEP risk., Design: This retrospective study examined records of 1365 patients who underwent ERCP at our center between 2014-2023. Only sphincterotomy-naïve patients were included. CT scans within 30 days of ERCP were reviewed for radiological criteria. The optimal pancreatic density cut-off was determined using AUROC and Youden index. Logistic regression was used for analyses., Results: PEP occurred in 75 patients (6.1 %). The CT scan was performed before ERCP for 565 of the total population. A fatty pancreas, defined as a spontaneous density less than -50HU, was statistically associated with PEP (OR: 7.35; 95 % CI: 1.56-26.5 p = 0.004), as well as with biliary obstruction due to stones (OR: 0.61; 95 % CI: 0.38-0.98; P = 0.04), the need for precut (OR: 2.19; 95 % CI: 1.35-3.51; P = 0.001), cannulation of the main pancreatic duct (OR: 2.23; 95 % CI: 1.36-3.59; P = 0.001), and the use of a pancreatic stent (OR: 2.48; 95 % CI: 1.29-4.47; P = 0.004). In multivariate analyses, only obstruction unrelated to gallstones (OR = 2.63; 95 % CI: 1.16-6.25; P = 0.024) and a low pancreatic density (<-50HU) (OR=7.94, 95 %CI: 1.59-31.09; P = 0.005) remains significantly associated with the risk of PEP, including after adjustment for age and sex (P = 0.006)., Conclusion: A very low pancreatic fat density could be a significant risk factor for post-ERCP pancreatitis with potential clinical and research implications. Further validation is needed., Competing Interests: Conflicts of interest None of the authors have any financial or non-financial conflicts of interest to disclose in relation to this study, (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Abstract: A 67-year-old woman, previously diagnosed with pulmonary sarcoidosis and sigmoid colon mucinous adenocarcinoma with pulmonary metastasis, showed an enlarged pulmonary nodule in routine follow-up. Because of the absence of treatment for either condition over the past 3 years, the nodule raised concerns of cancer recurrence or sarcoidosis progression. Its distinctive 18 F-FDG PET/CT appearance, compared with other pulmonary lesions, suggested a mucinous histology. The diagnosis was confirmed by pathological examination. This emphasizes the importance of knowledge of the 18 F-FDG PET/CT phenotype of neoplastic histological variants to address challenging diagnostic scenarios., Competing Interests: Conflicts of interest and sources of funding: none declared., (Copyright © 2024 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: There are still controversial data regarding the prognostic value of Venous ThromboEmbolism (VTE) in advanced Pancreatic Ductal AdenoCarcinoma (PDAC) and thromboprophylaxis is poorly prescribed despite international recommendations., Methods: Medical charts of patients consecutively treated for advanced PDAC from 2010 to 2019 were retrospectively reviewed. Progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were estimated using Kaplan-Meier method. Prognostic Factors were identified using a multivariate Cox's proportional hazard model. Early VTE was defined as VTE occurring within the three months following the PDAC diagnosis., Results: A total of 174 patients were included (median age: 67 years; males: 55.2%; performance status (PS) 0-1: 88.5%) with metastatic disease in 74.7%. At baseline, Khorana score was high (≥ 3) in the vast majority of cases (93.7%). The cumulative incidences of VTE were 12.4% (95% CI 7.3-17.2) at 3 months, 20.4% (95% CI 13.9-26.4) at 6 months and 28.1% (95% CI 20.0-35.3) at 12 months. Patients who experienced early VTE had shorter PFS (3.8 months vs. 7.1 months; HR = 2.02; 95% CI 1.21-3.37; p = 0.006) and shorter OS (8.0 months vs. 14.1 months; HR = 2.42; 95% CI 1.37-4.30; p = 0.002) compared to the others, independently of prognostic factors such as PS, liver metastases, carcinomatosis, and chemotherapy regimen., Conclusion: early VTE is a strong prognostic factor in advanced PDAC and occurs in about one in 10 patients., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Objectives: The total psoas area index (TPI) is an emerging alternative to the total skeletal muscle area index as a prognostic factor but has never been evaluated in metastatic pancreatic cancer (mPC)., Methods: Areas were manually recorded, as previously described. Sex-specific cutoffs were identified by optimum stratification of TPI using log-rank χ2 statistic associated with mortality to define sarcopenic psoas. Progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were the primary objectives. Two period groups were used as internal validation., Results: During the period study, 79 patients were treated for mPC. The TPI was correlated with PFS (hazards ratio, 0.81; P = 0.02) and OS (hazards ratio, 0.7; P < 0.001). Optimum thresholds defining sarcopenic psoas were less than 5.73 cm2/m2 in men and less than 4.37 cm2/m2 in women. Patients with sarcopenic psoas (62.0%) had shorter median PFS (2.9 months) compared with the others (6.6 months, adjusted P log-rank = 0.01), independently to the intensity of chemotherapy, weight loss, and performance status greater than 1. Similarly, OS was independently shorter in patients with sarcopenic psoas (7.6 months) versus the others (22.2 months, adjusted P < 0.001). These results were confirmed in the 2 period groups., Conclusions: A low TPI is a stronger independent prognostic factor in mPC., Competing Interests: N.W. is affiliated with Boston, Cook, Chugai Pharma, Ipsen, LVL Medical, Merck, Sanofi, and Servier. J.-M.P. is affiliated with Merck, Roche, Amgen, Lilly, Celgene, Bayer, Sanofi, and Ipsen. The other authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)