Endoscopic papillectomy for ampullary lesions of minor papilla

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

Ampullary lesions (ALs) of the minor duodenal papilla are extremely rare. Endoscopic papillectomy (EP) is a routinely used treatment for AL of the major duodenal papilla, but the role of EP for minor AL has not been accurately studied.

METHODS

We identified 20 patients with ALs of minor duodenal papilla in the multicentric database from the Endoscopic Papillectomy vs Surgical Ampullectomy vs Pancreatitcoduodenectomy for Ampullary Neoplasm study, which included 1422 EPs. We used propensity score matching (nearest-neighbor method) to match these cases with ALs of the major duodenal papilla based on age, sex, histologic subtype, and size of the lesion in a 1:2 ratio. Cohorts were compared by means of chi-square or Fisher exact test as well as Mann-Whitney U test.

RESULTS

Propensity score-based matching identified a cohort of 60 (minor papilla 20, major papilla 40) patients with similar baseline characteristics. The most common histologic subtype of lesions of minor papilla was an ampullary adenoma in 12 patients (3 low-grade dysplasia and 9 high-grade dysplasia). Five patients revealed nonneoplastic lesions. Invasive cancer (T1a), adenomyoma, and neuroendocrine neoplasia were each found in 1 case. The rate of complete resection, en-bloc resection, and recurrences were similar between the groups. There were no severe adverse events after EP of lesions of minor papilla. One patient had delayed bleeding that could be treated by endoscopic hemostasis, and 2 patients showed a recurrence in surveillance endoscopy after a median follow-up of 21 months (interquartile range, 12-50 months).

CONCLUSIONS

EP is safe and effective in ALs of the minor duodenal papilla. Such lesions could be managed according to guidelines for EP of major duodenal papilla.

Outcomes of rescue procedures in the management of locally recurrent ampullary tumors: A Pancreas 2000/EPC study

BACKGROUND

Ampullary lesions are rare and can be locally treated either with endoscopic papillectomy or transduodenal surgical ampullectomy. Management of local recurrence after a first-line treatment has been poorly studied.

METHODS

Patients with a local recurrence of an ampullary lesion initially treated with endoscopic papillectomy or transduodenal surgical ampullectomy were retrospectively included from a multi-institutional database (58 centers) between 2005 and 2018.

RESULTS

A total of 103 patients were included, 21 (20.4%) treated with redo endoscopic papillectomy, 14 (13.6%) with transduodenal surgical ampullectomy, and 68 (66%) with pancreaticoduodenectomy. Redo endoscopic papillectomy had low morbidity with 4.8% (n = 1) severe to fatal complications and a R0 rate of 81% (n = 17). Transduodenal surgical ampullectomy and pancreaticoduodenectomy after a first procedure had a higher morbidity with Clavien III and more complications, respectively, 28.6% (n = 4) and 25% (n = 17); R0 resection rates were 85.7% (n = 12) and 92.6% (n = 63), both without statistically significant difference compared to endoscopic papillectomy (P = .1 and 0.2). Pancreaticoduodenectomy had 4.4% (n = 2) mortality. No deaths were registered after transduodenal surgical ampullectomy or endoscopic papillectomy. Recurrences treated with pancreaticoduodenectomy were more likely to be adenocarcinomas (79.4%, n = 54 vs 21.4%, n = 3 for transduodenal surgical ampullectomy and 4.8%, n = 1 for endoscopic papillectomy, P < .0001). Three-year overall survival and disease-free survival were comparable.

CONCLUSION

Endoscopy is appropriate for noninvasive recurrences, with resection rate and survival outcomes comparable to surgery. Surgery applies more to invasive recurrences, with transduodenal surgical ampullectomy rather for carcinoma in situ and early cancers and pancreaticoduodenectomy for more advanced tumors.

Evaluation of sensitivity and inter- and intra-observer variability in the detection of intestinal metaplasia and dysplasia in Barrett's esophagus with enhanced magnification endoscopy

OBJECTIVE

Magnification endoscopy with acetic acid or dye for diagnosis of Barrett's esophagus is presently undergoing clinical evaluation. Current studies report good accuracy in predicting specialized intestinal metaplasia. To date, however, there is no definitive information on the inter- and intra-observer variability of these methods applied to the diagnosis of normal and dysplastic Barrett's mucosa.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Sixty patients with endoscopically suspected Barrett's esophagus were investigated prospectively with the zoom endoscope after contrast enhancement of the mucosa with 1.5% acetic acid. Two hundred and twenty-three enlarged and histologically investigated areas of gastric, cardiac, normal and dysplastic Barrett's mucosa were photodocumented and in randomized sequence presented to 4 endoscopists in a blinded manner (2 with and 2 without experience of zoom endoscopy for evaluation). The reference for the first evaluation (A1) was standard endoscopic photographs of the respective, histologically confirmed mucosal entity. In a second evaluation (A2), the pictures were again interpreted by the same blinded investigators, but this time a modified pit-pattern classification as proposed by Sharma et al. was employed as the evaluation reference.

RESULTS

The diagnostic sensitivity for specialized intestinal metaplasia and dysplasia in Barrett's esophagus calculated for the A1 evaluation ranged -- investigator dependently -- from 54.9% to 80.7% and for A2 from 42.2% to 81.5%. The inter- and intra-observer variability for the evaluation procedure A1 and A2 was high (all kappa values <0.4). In particular, the inexperienced investigators demonstrated high intra-observer variability and low sensitivity in comparison with the experienced investigators.

CONCLUSIONS

The diagnosis of Barrett's mucosa using enhanced magnification endoscopy after acetic acid instillation is associated with a high level of interobserver variability. One reason is a frequent mismatch between cardiac mucosa and non-dysplastic Barrett's mucosa.

Successful laserlithotripsy in Bouveret's syndrome using a new frequency doubled doublepulse Nd:YAG laser (FREDDY)

Gastric outlet obstruction as a result of gallstone (Bouveret syndrome) is a rare but serious complication of cholelithiasis. In many cases, surgery has been conducted for treatment. In recent years, minimal invasive treatment modalities (e.g. shockwave lithotripsy) have been shown to be effective in some of those patients. Laserlithotripsy has so far been described in two cases with a Rhodamine-6G dye laser. We present the case of a 90-year-old woman with duodenal obstruction due to a huge gallstone. The patient was referred to our hospital because attempts at endoscopic extraction and extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy had failed. The man was treated successfully in just one session with a new cost-efficient frequency doubled doublepulse Nd:YAG laser (FREDDY) using a total of 5726 laser pulses (120 mJ pulse energy, 10 Hz pulse repetition rate) and recovered rapidly. Laserlithotripsy can be considered an effective non-invasive therapeutic alternative to surgical treatment in Bouveret's syndrome, especially in old or high-risk patients.

Endoscopic light-induced autofluorescence spectroscopy for the diagnosis of colorectal cancer and adenoma

To evaluate the new, bio-optical method of light-induced autofluorescence spectroscopy for the endoscopic in-vivo diagnosis of (pre)-cancerous lesions of the colorectum, 311 endogenous fluorescence spectra were obtained from normal, adenomatous and cancerous colorectal tissue in 11 patients with cancer, six patients with familial adenomatous polyposis, and six patients with multiple adenomatous polyps. A light source delivered either white or violet-blue light for excitation of tissue autofluorescence via a flexible endoscope. Endogenous fluorescence spectra emitted by the tissue were picked up with a fiberoptic probe and analysed with a spectrograph. Biopsies were taken for definitive classification of the spectra. Rectal cancer (n=11) as well as adenomas with severe dysplasia (n=19) showed specific differences between the emitted fluorescence spectra as compared with normal mucosa and hyperplastic polyps. Having applied a mathematical algorithm to the spectra, a sensitivity of 96% and a specificity of 93% were obtained for the diagnosis of rectal cancer. The equivalent values for the diagnosis of dysplastic ademomas were 98 and 89%, respectively. Light-induced autofluorescence spectroscopy is a new and promising bio-optical procedure for the endoscopic in-vivo diagnosis of colorectal cancer and dysplasia.

Endoscopic antireflux treatment: fact, fiction or future?

Medical therapy with proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), aside from surgery, is the established and most effective treatment approach for chronic gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Recently developed endoscopic antireflux procedures may be an alternative for a subset of patients with uncomplicated, mild GERD. Given the perioperative morbidity and mortality risk of laparoscopic fundoplication, less invasive semi-surgical and flexible endoscopic techniques may be an option for patients who cannot or wish not to take long-term medication. These clinical procedures include endoscopic suturing devices, focal radiofrequency coagulation in the cardia and bioimplants. While many of these techniques have shown good results in preliminary studies, long-term results are not yet available and therefore all such procedures have to be considered experimental. Their effectiveness will need to be compared with that of established treatment forms.

Complications of endoscopic sphincterotomy: can heparin prevent acute pancreatitis after ERCP?

BACKGROUND

An exploratory analysis of a prospective study of risk factors for acute pancreatitis after ERCP combined with endoscopic sphincterotomy showed that the frequency of acute pancreatitis was lower in patients who received heparin compared with patients not treated with heparin. The study was continued to further analyze the effect of heparin on the frequency of acute pancreatitis.

METHODS

Potential risk factors for acute pancreatitis and outcomes were evaluated prospectively for all ERCP procedures with endoscopic sphincterotomy performed between September 1994 and December 1998. The results were analyzed by univariate and multivariate methods to determine risk factors for complications. Heparin was administered to 32.9% of the patients (heparin group [HEP group], n = 268) for various clinical reasons (low-molecular-weight heparin, n = 208, unfractionated heparin n = 60). A group of 547 patients who did not receive heparin served as control patients (CON group).

RESULTS

Eight hundred fifteen patients underwent ERCP with endoscopic sphincterotomy; acute pancreatitis occurred in 6.4% (n = 52). The frequency of acute pancreatitis was significantly lower in the HEP group versus the CON group in the final multivariate model, which included significant risk factors for acute pancreatitis (HEP group: 3.4%, 9/268 vs. CON group: 7.9%, 43/547; p = 0.005). HEP did not increase the risk of hemorrhage (HEP group: 1.1%, 3/268, 2 severe, none fatal vs. CON group: 2.0%, 11/547, 3 severe, 2 fatal). HEP (p = 0.005; OR 0.3: 95% CI [0.16, 0.73]) and the number of risk factors present (p = 0.0001; OR 2.5: 95% CI [1.80, 3.50]) influenced the frequency of acute pancreatitis independently.

CONCLUSIONS

Heparin was significantly associated with an extremely low frequency of post-ERCP pancreatitis without increasing the risk of hemorrhage after endoscopic sphincterotomy. Because this effect could not be attributed to other known or suspected confounders, our conclusion was that heparin administration before ERCP reduces the risk of pancreatitis.

Continence after colorectal reconstruction following resection: impact of level of anastomosis

In 48 patients who had undergone anterior resection for rectal cancer with straight colorectal reconstruction, clinical and manometric results were correlated with the level of anastomosis. Patients were divided into four groups by anastomotic level: < or = 3, 4-6, 7-9, and > or = 10 cm. Functional outcome with regard to frequency of bowel movements, minor leakage, fecal incontinence. ability to defer stool and to differentiate consistency showed increasing impairment the lower the anastomotic level. Frequency, leakage owing to the inability to defer stool, incontinence for solid stool, inability to discriminate flatus from stool, and incomplete emptying were significantly different (P < 0.05) between the patients with an anastomotic level between 3-6 cm and between 7-9 cm. Manometric data revealed no trend or significant differences among the groups with regard to anal resting pressure and maximal and median squeeze pressure. Rectoanal inhibitory reflex was abolished in 60% of the patients. Clear changes, with a trend toward reduced function with lower anastomotic levels, were seen in the volume that produced a feeling of urgency, maximal tolerable volume, and neorectal compliance (between anastomotic levels 7-9 and > or = 10 cm the differences were significant; P < 0.05). Analysis by length of residual rectum (< 1.5, 1.5-4.0, 4.1-6.5, > 6.5 cm) demonstrated similar findings, suggesting that impaired function after rectal resection is due to reduced function of the neorectum. Thus, as much residual rectum as possible should be preserve without risking cure. If the level of the anastomosis is expected to be below 6 cm, or if the residual rectum is less than 4 cm, the construction of a colon pouch to increase neorectal capacity should be considered.