Use of choledochoscopy to treat anastomotic stricture after cholangiojejunostomy through a preset subcutaneous intestinal loop: a study of 30 cases

Linoleic acid pathway disturbance contributing to potential cancerization of intrahepatic bile duct stones into intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma

Background

Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) is the second most common primary hepatic malignancy with poor prognosis. Intrahepatic bile duct stone (IBDS) is one of the key causes to ICC occurrence and can increase morbidity rate of ICC about forty times. However, the specific carcinogenesis of IBDS is still far from clarified. Insight into the metabolic phenotype difference between IBDS and ICC can provide potential mechanisms and therapeutic targets, which is expected to inhibit the carcinogenesis of IBDS and improve the prognosis of ICC.

Methods

A total of 34 participants including 25 ICC patients and 9 IBDS patients were recruited. Baseline information inclusive of liver function indicators, tumor biomarkers, surgery condition and constitution parameters etc. from patients were recorded. ICC and IBDS pathological tissues, as well as ICC para-carcinoma tissues, were collected for GC–MS based metabolomics experiments. Multivariate analysis was performed to find differentially expressed metabolites and differentially enriched metabolic pathways. Spearman correlation analysis was then used to construct correlation network between key metabolite and baseline information of patients.

Results

The IBDS tissue and para-carcinoma tissue have blurred metabolic phenotypic differences, but both of them essentially distinguished from carcinoma tissue of ICC. Metabolic differences between IBDS and ICC were enriched in linoleic acid metabolism pathway, and the level of 9,12-octadecadienoic acid in IBDS tissues was almost two times higher than in ICC pathological tissues. The correlation between 9,12-octadecadienoic acid level and baseline information of patients demonstrated that 9,12-octadecadienoic acid level in pathological tissue was negative correlation with gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) level in peripheral blood. These two indicators were all cancerization marker for hepatic carcinoma and disease characteristic of IBDS.

Conclusion

Long-term monitoring of metabolites from linoleic acid metabolism pathway and protein indicators of liver function in IBDS patients has important guiding significance for the monitoring of IBDS carcinogenesis. Meanwhile, further insight into the causal relationship between linoleic acid pathway disturbance and changes in liver function can provide important therapeutic targets for both IBDS and ICC.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12876-022-02354-2.

Clinical application of laparoscopy combined with choledochoscopy in patients with bilioenteric anastomotic stricture with access via the jejunal loops

Objective

Bilioenteric anastomotic stricture is a serious complication following choledochojejunostomy. Some patients develop intrahepatic lithiasis and biliary tract infection without dilation of the intrahepatic bile duct. The present study was performed to investigate the safety and efficacy of laparoscopy combined with choledochoscopy in patients with bilioenteric anastomotic stricture with access via the jejunal loops.

Methods

The data of 10 patients (7 men and 3 women; mean age, 60.8 ± 9.7 years; age range, 51–76 years) with potential bilioenteric anastomotic stricture without dilation of the intrahepatic bile duct from January 2015 to December 2019 were retrospectively reviewed.

Results

All 10 patients underwent surgery, and their clinical parameters were recorded. The mean surgery time was 181.5 ± 35.4 minutes, and the mean estimated blood loss was 32.0 ± 15.5 mL. No patients developed serious complications during the perioperative period. The short-term outcome analysis at 12 months indicated that the stenosis had been effectively dilated and that the liver function had improved.

Conclusions

The results of the present study demonstrated that laparoscopy combined with choledochoscopy with access via the jejunal loops is feasible in the treatment of bilioenteric anastomotic stricture and intrahepatic lithiasis.