New digital cholangioscopy-guided removal of a transpapillary plastic stent through the hepaticogastrostomy route

The Role of Cholangioscopy in Biliary Diseases

Endoscopy plays a central role in diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to biliary disease in both benign and malignant conditions. A cholangioscope is an endoscopic instrument that allows for the direct exploration of the biliary tree. Over the years, technology has improved endoscopic image quality and allowed for the development of an operative procedure that can be performed during cholangioscopy. Different types of instruments are available in this context, and they can be used in different anatomical access points according to the most appropriate clinical indication. The direct visualization of biliary mucosa is essential in the presence of biliary strictures of unknown significance, allowing for the appropriate allocation of patients to surgery or conservative treatments. Cholangioscopy has demonstrated excellent performance in discriminating malignant conditions (such as colangiocarcinoma) from benign inflammatory strictures, and more recent advances (e.g., artificial intelligence and confocal laser endomicroscopy) could further increase its diagnostic accuracy. Cholangioscopy also plays a primary role in the treatment of benign conditions such as difficult bile stones (DBSs). In this case, it may not be possible to achieve complete biliary drainage using standard ERCP. Therapeutic cholangioscopy-guided lithotripsy allows for stone fragmentation and complete biliary drainage. Indeed, other complex clinical situations, such as patients with intra-hepatic lithiasis and patients with an altered anatomy, could benefit from the therapeutic role of cholangioscopy. The aim of the present review is to explore the most recent diagnostic and therapeutic advances in the roles of cholangioscopy in the management of biliary diseases.

Clinical Outcomes of Digital Cholangioscopy-Guided Procedures for the Diagnosis of Biliary Strictures and Treatment of Difficult Bile Duct Stones: A Single-Center Large Cohort Study

Although Spy DS (SpyGlass DS Direct Visualization System) is considered to be useful for the diagnosis of bile duct strictures and the treatment of bile duct stones, there is limited data to date validating its efficacy. We hence retrospectively evaluated the clinical outcomes of the use of Spy DS in a large number of patients. A total of 183 patients who underwent Spy DS-guided procedures for indeterminate bile duct strictures (n = 93) and bile duct stones (n = 90) were analyzed retrospectively. All patients (93/93) with bile duct strictures successfully underwent visual observation, and 95.7% (89/93) of these patients successfully underwent direct biopsy. The sensitivity, specificity, and overall accuracy were 94.7%, 83.3%, and 90.3%, respectively, for visual impression; 80.9%, 100%, and 89.2%, respectively, for histopathological analysis of a direct biopsy; and 96.5%, 91.7%, and 94.6%, respectively, for visual impression combined with biopsy. Successful visualization of the stones was achieved in 98.9% (89/90) of the patients, and complete stone removal was achieved in 92.2% (83/90) of the patients, with an average of 3.3 procedures. The adverse events rate was 17.5% (32/183; cholangitis in 15 patients, fever the following day in 25, pancreatitis in 1, hemorrhage in 1, and gastrointestinal perforation in 1). No administration of antibiotics before the procedure was found to be a statistically significant risk factor for the development of fever after the procedure (p < 0.01). Spy DS-guided procedures are effective for the diagnosis and treatment of bile duct lesions and can be performed with a low risk of serious adverse events.

Biliary stent removal through a transgastric fistula created with endoscopic ultrasound-guided hepaticogastrostomy

Therapeutic endoscopic ultrasound has become widespread as an effective procedure for biliary drainage; however, it is rarely used to remove foreign bodies such as a biliary stent. A 57-year-old man was referred to our hospital for a benign biliary stricture in the left hepatic duct after hepatectomy. Initially, a 7-Fr plastic stent was placed in the left hepatic duct with the distal end set above the papilla, and it was replaced with an 8.5-Fr stent as the stricture remained after 3 months. Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography was performed to retrieve the plastic stent 3 months later; however, the stent could not be moved because the proximal flap was caught in the stricture. Attempts using various devices failed to retrieve the stent; thus, endoscopic ultrasound-guided hepaticogastrostomy was performed to create a route for stent retrieval. Eventually, the plastic stent was successfully retrieved with biopsy forceps through a fully covered self-expandable metallic stent located in a transgastric fistula. We propose our new method involving endoscopic ultrasound-guided hepaticogastrostomy for endoscopic stent retrieval that fails via the transpapillary route.

Interventional endoscopic ultrasonography for benign biliary diseases in patients with surgically altered anatomy

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

At present, balloon enteroscopy-assisted endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) is the mainstay of therapy for benign biliary diseases in patients with surgically altered anatomy (SAA). Recently interventional endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) techniques have been used for not only drainage procedure but also treatment procedure in such patients. This review aims to discuss details about interventional EUS techniques in such patients and published clinical data.

RECENT FINDINGS

Antegrade treatment such as antegrade stone removal for bile duct stones or guidewire manipulation across the anastomotic stricture following antegrade balloon dilation and antegrade stenting for the stricture via the approach route created by EUS-bilioenterostomy, so-called EUS-guided antegrade intervention, have been developed. In difficult cases, per-oral cholangioscopy-assisted antegrade intervention has been reported as a useful technique. In addition, other novel alternative interventional EUS techniques have been also reported such as EUS-directed transgastric ERCP in patients with Roux-en-Y gastric bypass.

SUMMARY

Interventional EUS techniques appear to be feasible and safe alternative procedures for benign biliary diseases in patients with SAA after balloon enteroscopy-assisted ERCP failure.

A feasibility study of digital single-operator cholangioscopy for diagnostic and therapeutic procedure (with videos)

Recently, the novel SpyGlass DS Direct Visualization system (SPY DS) has become available. This system offers several advantages over the conventional SPYGlass system. This study evaluated the clinical feasibility and efficacy of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures for biliary disorder using SPY DS.In this retrospective study, consecutive patients who had biliary disorder were enrolled between November 2015 and February 2016. All patients could not be diagnosed or treated by standard endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography in our hospital or at another hospital.A total of 28 consecutive patients (21 men and 7 women; median age, 73 years; age range, 55-87 years) were retrospectively enrolled in this study. Among them, diagnostic procedure was performed in 20 patients, and 8 patients underwent therapeutic procedures. The technical success rate for diagnostic procedures was 100% (20/20). Diagnostic accuracy was 100% (19/19). The technical success rate for therapeutic procedures was 88% (7/8). Among these 8 patients, 4 patients with common bile duct stones underwent electrohydraulic lithotripsy. One patient successfully underwent guidewire insertion to remove a migrated plastic stent. The 3 remaining patients underwent SPY DS to insert a guidewire for left bile duct obstruction and for posterior bile duct branch. In the patient who underwent guidewire insertion for left hepatic bile duct obstruction cause by primary sclerosing cholangitis, we could not advance the guidewire into the left hepatic bile duct. No adverse events were seen. Median SPY DS insertion time was 21 min (range, 8-32 min).Single-operator cholangioscopy using SPY DS was feasible and had a marked clinical impact in patients with biliary disease. Additional case reports and prospective studies are needed to examine further applications of this system.

Technical tips for peroral transluminal cholangioscopy using novel single-operator cholangioscope (with videos)

Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) is the gold-standard modality for diagnosis and therapy of bilio-pancreatic disease. In particular, peroral cholangiography (POCS) is a useful modality not only for diagnosing biliary disease, but also for therapeutic procedures such as electrohydraulic lithotripsy. The SPY-DS single-operator cholangioscope has recently become available, and offers favorable visualization, a wide view, suction function and a larger accessory working channel. However, if the duodenoscope cannot be advanced into the ampulla of Vater for reasons such as surgical anatomy, POCS cannot be performed. On the other hand, percutaneous transhepatic cholangiodrainage (PTCD) has been developed as an alternative endoscopic ultrasound-guided approach to the biliary tract. Peroral transluminal cholangioscopy (PTLC) using SPY-DS is a novel approach. Because transluminal interventional procedures under endoscopic ultrasound guidance have recently been developed, our technique may have clinical impact for selected cases.