Safety and efficacy of Kaffes intraductal self-expanding metal stents in the management of post-liver transplant anastomotic strictures

BACKGROUND Endoscopic management is the first-line therapy for post-liver-transplant anas-tomotic strictures.Although the optimal duration of treatment with plastic stents has been reported to be 8-12 months,data on safety and duration for metal stents in this setting is scarce.Due to limited access to endoscopic retrograde cholan-giopancreatography(ERCP)during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic in our centre,there was a change in practice towards increased usage and length-of-stay of the Kaffes biliary intraductal self-expanding stent in patients with suitable anatomy.This was mainly due to the theoretical benefit of Kaffes stents allowing for longer indwelling periods compared to the traditional plastic stents.METHODS Adult liver transplant recipients aged 18 years and above who underwent ERCP were retrospectively identified during a 10-year period through a database query.Unplanned admissions post-Kaffes stent insertion were identified manually through electronic and scanned medical records.The main outcome was the incidence of complications when stents were left indwelling for 3 months vs 6 months.Stent efficacy was calculated via rates of stricture recurrence between patients that had stenting courses for≤120 d or>120 d.RESULTS During the study period,a total of 66 ERCPs with Kaffes insertion were performed in 54 patients throughout their stenting course.In 33 ERCPs,the stent was removed or exchanged on a 3-month interval.No pancreatitis,perfor-ations or deaths occurred.Minor post-ERCP complications were similar between the 3-month(abdominal pain and intraductal migration)and 6-month(abdominal pain,septic shower and embedded stent)groups-6.1%vs 9.1%respectively,P=0.40.All strictures resolved at the end of the stenting course,but the stenting course was variable from 3 to 22 months.The recurrence rate for stenting courses lasting for up to 120 d was 71.4%and 21.4%for stenting courses of 121 d or over(P=0.03).There were 28 patients that were treated with a single ERCP with Kaffes,21 with removal after 120 d and 7 within 120 d.There was a significant improvement in stricture recurrence when the Kaffes was removed after 120 d when a single ERCP was used for the entire stenting course(71.0%vs 10.0%,P=0.01).CONCLUSION Utilising a single Kaffes intraductal fully-covered metal stent for at least 4 months is safe and efficacious for the management of post-transplant anastomotic strictures.

Liver decompensation after rapid weight loss from semaglutide in a patient with non-alcoholic steatohepatitis -associated cirrhosis

There is rapidly increasing uptake of GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1) agonistssuch as semaglutide worldwide for weight loss and management of non-alcoholicsteatohepatitis (NASH). remains a paucity of safety data in the vulnerable NASHcirrhotic population. We report herein the first documented case of liver decompensationand need for liver transplant waitlisting in a patient with NASHcirrhosistreated with semaglutide. Rapid weight loss led to the development ofascites and hepatic encephalopathy and an increase in the patients Model forEndstage Liver Disease-Na (MELD-Na) score from 11 to 22. Aggressive nutritionalsupplementation was commenced and the semaglutide was stopped. Overthe following months she regained her weight and her liver recompensated andher MELD-Na decreased to 13, allowing her to be delisted from the transplantwaitlist. This case serves as a cautionary tale to clinicians using semaglutide in thecirrhotic population and highlights the need for more safety data in this patientgroup.