Interventional endoscopic ultrasound: Therapeutic capability and potential

The linear echoendoscope, introduced in the 1990s, opened the era of interventional endoscopic ultrasound (IEUS). The linear echoendoscope enabled EUS guided Fine Needle Aspiration (EUS-FNA) allowing the path of the needle to be traced during the puncture process. After EUS-FNA, other interventional procedures were introduced in clinical practice. Tissue acquisition was the first EUS-guided interventional procedure and its higher diagnostic quality has undoubtedly been established. After EUS-FNA, Celiac plexus neurolysis (CPN) and block (CPB), pancreatic pseudocyst drainage, abdominal and mediastinal collections/abscesses drainage, and in selected cases, pancreatic and biliary ductal system drainage, were introduced in clinical practice. EUS-guided fine needle injection with local delivery of antitumor agents is considered a promising modality. We have reviewed published data on EUS guided interventional procedures with the object of summarizing the diagnostic capability of endoscopic ultrasound and elaborates in detail its therapeutic capability and potential.

Endoscopic sphincterotomy in acute biliary pancreatitis: A question of anesthesiological risk

Two consecutive surveys of acute pancreatitis in Italy, based on more than 1000 patients with acute pancreatitis, reported that the etiology of the disease indicates biliary origin in about 60% of the cases. The United Kingdom guidelines report that severe gallstone pancreatitis in the presence of increasingly deranged liver function tests and signs of cholangitis (fever, rigors, and positive blood cultures) requires an immediate and therapeutic endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP). These guidelines also recommend that patients with gallstone pancreatitis should undergo prompt cholecystectomy, possibly during the same hospitalization. However, a certain percentage of patients are unfit for cholecystectomy because advanced age and presence of comorbidity. We evaluated the early and long-term results of endoscopic intervention in relation to the anesthesiological risk for 87 patients with acute biliary pancreatitis. All patients underwent ERCP and were evaluated according to the American Society of Anesthesiology (ASA) criteria immediately before the operative procedure. The severity of acute pancreatitis was positively related to the anesthesiological grade. There was no significant relationship between the frequency of biliopancreatic complications during the follow-up and the ASA grade. The frequency of cholecystectomy was inversely related to the ASA grade and multivariate analysis showed that the ASA grade and age were significantly related to survival. Finally, endoscopic treatment also appeared to be safe and effective in patients at high anesthesiological risk with acute pancreatitis. These results further support the hypothesis that endoscopic sphincterotomy might be considered a definitive treatment for patients with acute biliary pancreatitis and an elevated ASA grade.

Endoscopic submucosal dissection for colorectal neoplasms

Although endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) gains acceptance as one of the standard treatments for esophageal and stomach neoplasms in Japan, it is still in the developing stage for colorectal neoplasms. In terms of indications, little likelihood of nodal metastasis and technical resectability are principally considered. Some of intramucosal neoplasms, carcinomas with minute submucosal invasion, and carcinoid tumors, which are technically unresectable by conventional endoscopic treatments, may become good candidates for ESD, considering substantial risks and obtained benefits. ESD as a staging measure to obtain histological information of the invasion depth and lymphovascular infiltration is acceptable because preoperative prediction is difficult in some cases. In terms of techniques, advantages of ESD in comparison with other endoscopic treatments are to be controllable in size and shape, and to be resectable even in large and fibrotic neoplasms. The disadvantages may be longer procedure time, heavier bleeding, and higher possibility of perforation. However, owing to refinement of the techniques, invention of devices, and the learning curve, acceptable technical safety has been achieved. Colorectal ESD is very promising and become one of the standard treatments for colorectal neoplasms in the near future.

Endoscopic mucosal resection and endoscopic submucosal dissection for early gastric cancer: Current and original devices

Compared with endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD), endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) is easier to perform and requires less time for treatment. However, EMR has been replaced by ESD, because achieving en bloc resection of specimens > 20 mm in diameter is difficult with EMR. The technique of ESD was introduced to resect large specimens of early gastric cancer in a single piece. ESD can provide precise histological diagnosis and can also reduce the rate of recurrence, but has a high level of technical difficulty, and is consequently associated with a high rate of complications, a need for advanced endoscopic techniques, and a lengthy procedure time. To overcome disadvantages in both EMR and ESD, various advances have been made in submucosal injections, knives, other accessories, and in electrocoagulation systems.

Stenting of strictures close to the upper esophageal sphincter with the Polyflex stent

Stent insertion in strictures in the upper cervical esophagus present special difficulties, such as patient discomfort and worry due to continuous neck globus sensation and a metallic taste. Additionally, the endoscopist needs to have great skill to properly adjust the proximal stent end. We present the experience of stenting high cervical esophageal strictures with a self-expanding plastic stent (Polyflex), in three tumoral and one postoperative benign stenosis. Dysphagia disappeared and the endoprosthesis was well tolerated. The Polyflex stent seems to be suitable for insertion in the upper esophagus.

Colonoscopy polypectomy management in Glanzmann’s thrombasthenia

Glanzmann's thrombasthenia (GT) is a rare autosomal recessive bleeding syndrome characterized by abnormal Glycoprotein IIb/IIIa complex (GIIb/IIIa) on platelets with resultant abnormality in platelet aggregation. There is very little information regarding polypectomy management in GT. We report a single patient with this rare disease, who underwent sequential endoscopic management of large colon polyps. Polypectomy in our GT patient was complicated by immediate and delayed bleeding. Multiple clips used after standard cautery polypectomy for a polyp 10 mm or larger in our GT patient, was most effective in preventing immediate and delayed post-polypectomy bleeding than other known therapeutic approaches. We favor preemptive use of multiple clips in large polypectomy defects for GT patients and we may argue the added cost may be offset by the reduction in the need for blood products, and by averting or shortening potential hospitalizations.

Subserosal injection of hyaluronic acid may prevent perforation after endoscopic resection

AIM: To investigate the protective effect of subserosal injection of hyaluronic acid (HA) after endoscopic resection (ER) using ex vivo and in vivo studies.

METHODS: As the first examination, technical application of subserosal injection was tested 10 times using resected porcine stomachs. As the second examination, ER was applied to make six mucosal defects per stomach in three live minipigs and thermal damage was given on the proper muscle layer by using hemostatic forceps. Following the thermocoagulation, 1 mL of normal saline and HA, respectively, was injected targeting the subserosal layer in two mucosal defects each and the rest kept no injection as the control. The minipigs were recovered from the anesthesia and kept fasting until euthanasia which was carried out around 24 h after the procedures.

RESULTS: Ex vivo study revealed that complete and partial subserosal injection was possible two (20%) and four (40%) times, respectively. In vivo study revealed that no postoperative perforation occurred at any point of the thermocoagulation. Apparent retention of hyaluronic acid was identified at only two (33%) points where HA was injected.

CONCLUSION: This study failed to show preventative effects of subserosal injection of HA on postoperative perforation due to technical faults. However, this concept has a possibility to change strategy of ER with further technical innovation.

Occult and obscure gastrointestinal bleeding: Causes and diagnostic approach in 2009

Gastrointestinal bleeding can be obscure or occult (OGIB), the causes and diagnostic approach will be discussed in this editorial. The evaluation of OGIB consists on a judicious search of the cause of bleeding, which should be guided by the clinical history and physical findings. The standard approach to patients with OGIB is to directly evaluate the gastrointestinal tract by endoscopy, abdominal computed tomography, angiography, radionuclide scanning, capsule endoscopy. The source of OGIB can be identified in 85%-90%, no bleeding sites will be found in about 5%-10% of cases. Even if the bleedings originating from the small bowel are not frequent in clinical practice (7.6% of all digestive haemorrhages, in our casuistry), they are notoriously difficult to diagnose. In spite of progress, however, a number of OGIB still remain problematic to deal with at present in the clinical context due to both the difficulty in exactly identifying the site and nature of the underlying source and the difficulty in applying affective and durable diagnostic approaches so no single technique has emerged as the most efficient way to evaluate OGIB.

Perspectives of colorectal cancer screening in Germany 2009

Adequate screening methods can decrease colorectal cancer (CRC) mortality. The guaiac test for fecal occult-blood (FOBT) is part of the German CRC Screening Program since 1970 and has evidence level Ia. In randomized multicenter-studies FOBT has an average sensitivity of 24% and decreases CRC mortality up to 30%. Immunological tests for human haemoglobin (iFOBT) show better performance characteristics than guaiac FOBT, with augmented sensitivity and specificity. However, the single tests show wide differences in diagnostic performance and iFOBT is not yet covered by insurance companies although it should replace the guaiac test for CRC screening. Visual colonoscopy, which was introduced to the German National Cancer Screening Program in 2002, is the gold standard for the diagnosis of colorectal neoplasia. From 2003 to 2007 more than 2.8 million examinations have been documented in Germany. The prevalence of adenomas is around 20% and of CRC about 0.7% to 1.0% of the screenings. Seventy percent of the carcinomas detected during screening are in an early stage (UICC I and II). Furthermore, screening colonoscopy is a cost saving procedure with a low complication rate (0.25% overall). Insurance companies save 216€ for each screening colonoscopy mainly by prevention of neoplasia due to polypectomy. In Germany, virtual colonography by computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging still lacks standardization of the hard and software. In experienced centres the sensitivity for CRC and large polyps of CT colonography is comparable to colonoscopy but in meta-analyses the ranking is lower. New technologies like computer-aided colonoscopies with sheath or double balloon techniques are coming up as well as capsule colonoscopy, which sensitivity for large polyps is about 70%. Advised by his physician, the patient can choose his most acceptable examination method from this whole set of screening tools.

Curative ESD for intraepithelial esophageal carcinoma with leiomyoma mimicking submucosal invasive carcinoma

This case report presents a 65-year-old man who developed early esophageal cancer with leiomyoma treated by endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD). There have been several reports of co-existing superficial esophageal cancer and leiomyoma treated by endoscopic mucosal resection. However, there is no previous report describing the co-existing lesion treated by ESD. In order to determine treatment strategies for esophageal cancer, accurate endoscopic evaluation of the cancerous depth is essential. In the present case, the combination of endoscopic ultrasonography and narrow-band imaging system with magnifying endoscopy was extremely useful to evaluate the superficial esophageal cancer with leiomyoma, which lead to the appropriate treatment, ESD.

A comparison of transanal excision and endoscopic resection for early rectal cancer

AIM: To compare the outcomes of endoscopic resection with transanal excision in patients with early rectal cancer.

METHODS: Thirty-two patients with early rectal cancer were treated by transanal excision or endoscopic resection between May 1999 and December 2007. The patients were regularly re-examined by means of colonoscopy and abdominal computed tomography after resection of the early rectal cancer. Complications, length of hospital-stay, disease recurrence and follow up outcomes were assessed.

RESULTS: Sixteen patients were treated by endoscopic resection and 16 patients were treated by transanal excision. No significant differences were present in the baseline characteristics. The rate of complete resection in the endoscopic resection group was 93.8%, compared to 87.5% in the transanal excision group (P = 0.544). The mean length of hospital-stay in the endoscopic resection group was 2.7 ± 1.1 d, compared to 8.9 ± 2.7 d in the transanal excision group (P = 0.001). The median follow up was 15.0 mo (range 6-99). During the follow up period, there was no case of recurrent disease in either group.

CONCLUSION: Endoscopic resection was a safe and effective method for the treatment of early rectal cancers and its outcomes were comparable to those of transanal excision procedures.

CT colonography: Friend or foe of practicing endoscopists

AIM

To investigate the perceived impact of computed tomographic colonography (CTC) on endoscopists' current and future practice.

METHODS

A 21-question survey was mailed to 1570 randomly chosen American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE) members. Participants reported socio-demographics, colonoscopy volume, percentage of colonoscopies performed for screening, and likelihood of integration of CTC into their practice.

RESULTS

A total of 367 ASGE members (23%) returned the questionnaire. Respondents were predominantly male (> 90%) and white (83%) with an average age of 49 years. Most respondents (58%) had no plans to incorporate CTC into daily practice and only 7% had already incorporated CTC into daily practice. Private practice respondents were the least likely to incorporate this modality into their daily practice (P = 0.047). Forty-three percent of participants were willing to take courses on CTC reading, particularly those with the highest volume of colonoscopy (P = 0.049). Forty percent of participants were unsure of CTC's impact on future colonoscopy volume while 21% and 18% projected a decreased and increased volume, respectively. The estimated impact of CTC volume varied significantly by age (P = 0.002). Respondents > 60 years felt that CTC would increase colonoscopy, whereas those < 40 years thought CTC would ultimately decrease colonoscopy.

CONCLUSION

Practicing endoscopists are not enthusiastic about the incorporation of CTC into their daily practice and are unsure of its future impact on their practice.