Balloon-assisted enteroscopy with prophylactic polypectomy for Peutz-Jeghers syndrome: experience in Taiwan

Cancer risk in patients with Peutz-Jeghers syndrome in Korea: a retrospective multi-center study

BACKGROUND/AIMS

There have been little research on the cancer risks of patients with Peutz-Jeghers syndrome (PJS) in Korea. We aimed to investigate the clinical features of PJS patients and their cancer incidence rate.

METHODS

Patients with PJS from nine medical centers were enrolled. In those patients diagnosed with cancer, data obtained included the date of cancer diagnosis, the tumor location, and the cancer stage. The cumulative risks of gastrointestinal cancers and extra-gastrointestinal cancers were calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method.

RESULTS

A total of 96 PJS patients were included. The median age at diagnosis of PJS was 23.4 years. Cancer developed in 21 of the 96 patients (21.9%). The age of PJS diagnosis was widely distributed (0.9 to 72.4 years). The most common cancers were gastrointestinal cancer (n = 12) followed by breast cancer (n = 6). The cumulative lifetime cancer risk was calculated to be 62.1% at age 60. The cumulative lifetime gastrointestinal cancer risk was 47.1% at age 70. The cumulative lifetime extra- gastrointestinal cancer risk was 40.3% at age 60.

CONCLUSION

PJS onset may occur at any age and the risks of gastrointestinal and extra-gastrointestinal cancer are high. Thorough surveillance of PJS patients for malignancies is vital.

Gastrointestinal aspects of Peutz-Jeghers syndrome

There are two main problems in the clinical management of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract in patients with Peutz-Jeghers syndrome (PJS), namely long-term cancer risk and managing polyp related complications (of which the most important clinically is intussusception). Given the rarity of this condition, the evidence base upon which to make recommendations is small. Furthermore, controversies persist regarding the relationship between PJ polyps, cancer development and cancer risk. In this article we will explore some of these controversies, to put into context the recommendations for clinical management of these patients. We will provide an overview, particularly focusing on clinical data, and on the recommendations for clinical management and surveillance of the GI tract in PJS. We highlight knowledge gaps which need to be addressed by further research.

Safety and efficacy of an enteroscopy-based approach in reducing the polyp burden in patients with Peutz-Jeghers syndrome: experience from a tertiary referral center

Background:

Patients with Peutz–Jeghers syndrome develop hamartomatous polyps in the small bowel, possibly causing anemia, intussusception, and obstruction. We aimed to evaluate the impact of an enteroscopy-based approach, including both device-assisted and intraoperative enteroscopy, on the reduction of the polyp burden in a cohort of adult Peutz–Jeghers syndrome patients.

Materials and methods:

A retrospective study was conducted at Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Città della Salute e della Scienza in Turin, Italy. Consecutive Peutz–Jeghers syndrome patients eligible for device-assisted or intraoperative enteroscopy, between January 2003 and November 2019, were included. Enteroscopy technical issues and complications were recorded. At the time of index enteroscopy, the patients’ clinical records were retrospectively reviewed, and clinical data were recorded until November 2019.

Results:

Overall, 24 patients were included. Before inclusion, 16/24 patients (66.7%) underwent small bowel surgery for polyp-related complications, 13 of which (81.2%) in an emergent setting. Two patients had a history of small bowel neoplasms. During the timeframe, 47 device-assisted enteroscopies and 9 intraoperative enteroscopies were performed, and 247 small bowel polyps were endoscopically removed. The overall complication rate was 12.8% (8.5% for device-assisted enteroscopy, 22.2% for intraoperative enteroscopy). The median observation time was 108 months: in this timeframe, two patients developed small bowel polyp-related complications requiring emergent surgery. No patients developed small bowel cancer, but nine extra-gastrointestinal neoplasms were recorded.

Conclusion:

An enteroscopy-based approach appears to be well tolerated and effective in decreasing polyp-related complications in Peutz–Jeghers syndrome patients, thus reducing the need for emergent surgery. Although the prevention of small bowel polyp-related complications remains the main goal in these patients, the high incidence of extra-gastrointestinal neoplasms appears to be a rising issue.

Enteroscopic Diagnosis and Management of Small Bowel Diverticular Hemorrhage: A Multicenter Report from the Taiwan Association for the Study of Small Intestinal Diseases

Small bowel diverticulum is a rare cause of gastrointestinal bleeding. The diagnosis and treatment of small bowel diverticular hemorrhage is clinically challenging before the development of deep enteroscopy. In this multicenter study from the Taiwan Association for the Study of Small Intestinal Diseases (TASSID), 608 patients underwent deep enteroscopy for obscure gastrointestinal bleeding during January 2004 and April 2010 from eight medical centers in Taiwan. Small bowel diverticular hemorrhage account for 7.89% of obscure gastrointestinal bleeding in this study. Most of the patients received endoscopic therapy with an initial hemostasis rate of 85.71% and rebleeding rate of 20%. In this large case series investigating the enteroscopic management of small intestinal diverticular hemorrhage, we found that, as to patients with peptic ulcer hemorrhage, most of these patients can be successfully managed by endoscopic therapy before surgery in the era of deep enteroscopy.

Small bowel polypectomy by double balloon enteroscopy: Correlation with prior capsule endoscopy

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.

Performance of double-balloon enteroscopy for the management of small bowel polyps in hamartomatous polyposis syndromes

BACKGROUND AND AIM

Hamartomatous polyposis syndromes (HPS) are a group of rare inherited autosomal dominant disorders. Small bowel polyposis is one of the manifestations of HPS. Double-balloon enteroscopy (DBE) with polypectomy may obviate repeated small bowel surgeries for polyp intussusception, obstruction, or bleeding. The efficacy and safety of DBE-assisted polypectomy in HPS patients with clinically significant small bowel polyposis were evaluated.

METHODS

All HPS patients who underwent DBE from January 2007 to April 2011 were identified using a prospectively maintained database. Data on patient demographics, pre-DBE radiological studies, polyp characteristics, procedural outcomes, and complications were abstracted.

RESULTS

Twenty-two patients underwent a total of 34 DBE procedures. Pre-DBE imaging included computed tomography enterography (n = 15), computed tomography enteroclysis (n = 5), small bowel follow-through (n = 1), and magnetic resonance enterography (n = 1). Any small bowel polyp ≥ 1 cm in size on radiological imaging was referred for DBE-assisted polypectomy. Antegrade and retrograde DBE were successful in reaching and resecting targeted polyps in 90% (18/20) and 71.4% (10/14) of procedures, respectively. The overall success rate for DBE-assisted polypectomy was 82.3% (95% confidence interval: 66.5-91.6%). The median size of resected polyps was 2 cm (range 1-5 cm) and all were hamartomas. Minor adverse events occurred in four (11.8%) procedures, including abdominal pain (n = 2), immediate post-polypectomy bleeding (n = 1), and self-limited hematochezia (n = 1).

CONCLUSIONS

DBE-assisted polypectomy was successful in over 80% of HPS patients with an acceptable margin of safety. To the knowledge of the authors, this is one of the largest single-center studies to report on the performance and safety of DBE-assisted polypectomy in HPS patients.

Advances in modern enteroscopy therapeutics

Advances in modern enteroscopy have been largely due to endoscope development but also through the improved availability of endoscopic accessories along with improved understanding in their application. Device assisted enteroscopy began with the double balloon system in 2001 and was quickly followed by single balloon enteroscopy and spiral enteroscopy. These tools revolutionised deep small bowel endoscopy and allowed for the delivery of virtually all known therapeutic endoscopy intervention to almost all segments of the small bowel. This review covers the types of interventions in regards to indications, methods and their safety profiles as well as reviewing the various device assisted endoscopes available and their attributes.

Small bowel endoscopy and Peutz-Jeghers syndrome

Peutz-Jeghers syndrome (PJS) is a rare, autosomal dominant inherited disease. It is clinically characterized by the development of gastrointestinal hamartomas, mainly located in the small bowel. These hamartomas are prone to complications such as intussusceptions, abdominal complaints and anaemia. Furthermore, patients are at increased risk for developing small bowel cancer. Therefore, regular surveillance of the small bowel is indicated. However, the optimal strategy for surveillance has not been determined yet. This review gives an overview of the different techniques that have been described to examine the small bowel of PJS patients. First, a number of radiologic and endoscopic imaging modalities with diagnostic value are discussed. Secondly, recently developed advanced endoscopy techniques are described that can serve both as a diagnostic and therapeutic tool in the surveillance of the small bowel. Finally, a recommendation is given how to apply these individual techniques for small bowel surveillance in a step-up approach.

Interventional balloon-enteroscopy

Balloon assisted enteroscopy (BE) expands greatly the therapeutic options in interventional endoscopy; bleeding sites, strictures, polyps, and other small bowel lesions are increasingly been treated by use of BE in the last 10 years. Treatment options for small bowel bleeding include Argon plasma coagulation (APC), injection therapy, and application of TTS metal clips, and thereby bleeding is stopped in most cases. Dilating symptomatic strictures, resecting polyps as seen in Peutz-Jeghers syndrome (PJS), and removing foreign bodies, BE carries most endoscopic treatment techniques to the small bowel. Another new indication field for BE are interventions at the biliary system in patients with surgically modified anatomy such as Roux-Y anastomosis. This review offers a full overview on indications of BE and refers to the practical use of the method for all endoscopic interventions.