Can endoscopic submucosal dissection be safely performed in a smaller specialized clinic?

AIM:To investigate whether endoscopic submucosal dissection(ESD) can be safely performed at small clinics,such as the Shirakawa Clinic.METHODS:One thousand forty-seven ESDs to treat gastrointestinal tumors were performed at the Shirakawa Clinic from April 2006 to March 2011.The efficacy,technical feasibility and associated complications of the procedures were assessed.The ESD procedures were performed by five endoscopists.Sedation was induced with propofol for esophagogastorduodenal ESD.RESULTS:One thousand forty-seven ESDs were performed to treat 64 patients with esophageal cancer(E),850 patients with gastric tumors(G:764 patients with cancer,82 patients with adenomas and four others),four patients with duodenal cancer(D) and 129 patients with colorectal tumors(C:94 patients with cancer,21 patients with adenomas and 14 others).The en bloc resection rate was 94.3%(E:96.9%,G:95.8%,D:100%,C:79.8%).The median operation time was 46 min(range:4-360 min) and the mean size of the resected specimens was 18 mm(range:2-150 mm).No mortal complications were observed in association with the ESD procedures.Perforation occurred in 12 cases(1.1%,E:1 case,G:9 cases,D:1 case,C:1 case) and postoperative bleeding occurred in 53 cases(5.1%,G:51 cases,D:1 case,C:1 case);however,no case required either emergency surgery or blood transfusion.All of the perforations and postperative bleedings were resolved by endoscopic clipping or hemostasis.The other problematic complication observed was pneumonia,which was treated with conservative therapy.CONCLUSION:ESD can be safely performed in a clinic with established therapeutic methods and medical services to address potential complications.

Spontaneous regression of hepatic inflammatory pseudotumor with primary biliary cirrhosis:Case report and literature review

Hepatic inflammatory pseudotumor （IPT） is a rare benign non-neoplastic lesion characterized by proliferating fibrous tissue infiltrated by inflammatory cells. The exact etiology of IPT remains unclear. Although the association of IPT with systemic inflammatory disorders has been well established, a specific relationship with cholangitis is distinctly rare. We report a case of spontaneous regression of hepatic IPT with primary biliary cirrhosis （PBC）. To date, only two cases of IPT with PBC have been reported. In our case, however, IPT developed during the course of improvement of cholangitis of PBC induced by effective treatment, differing from two previously reported cases. Our case indicates that the development of IPT does not also relate to the activity of cholangitis and/or hyper gamma-globulinemia, since our case was confirmed radiologically to be free of IPT when biliary enzymes and immunoglobulins were much higher than the corresponding values on admission. Comparison of our case with the two previously reported cases suggests that IPT occurring with PBC does not represent the same disease entity or be a bystander for PBC.

Analysis of colonoscopic perforations at a local clinic and a tertiary hospital

AIM： To define the clinical characteristics, and to as- sess the management of colonoscopic complications at a local clinic. METHODS： A retrospective review of the medical re- cords was performed for the patients with iatrogenic colon perforations after endoscopy at a local clinic be- tween April 2006 and December 2010. Data obtained from a tertiary hospital in the same region were also analyzed. The underlying conditions, clinical presenta- tions, perforation locations, treatment types （operative or conservative） and outcome data for patients at the local clinic and the tertiary hospital were compared. RESULTS： A total of 10 826 colonoscopies, and 2625 therapeutic procedures were performed at a local clinic and 32 148 colonoscopies, and 7787 therapeutic proce-dures were performed at the tertiary hospital. The clinic had no perforations during diagnostic colonoscopy and 8 （0.3%） perforations were determined to be related to therapeutic procedures. The perforation rates in each therapeutic procedure were 0.06% （1/1609） in polyp- ectomy, 0.2% （2/885） in endoscopic mucosal resection （EMR）, and 3.8% （5/131） in endoscopic submucosal dis- section （ESD）. Perforation rates for ESD were significantly higher than those for polypectomy or EMR （P 〈 0.01）. All of these patients were treated conservatively. On the oth- er hand, three （0.01%） perforation cases were observed among the 24 361 diagnostic procedures performed, and these cases were treated with surgery in a tertiary hospi- tal. Six perforations occurred with therapeutic endoscopy （perforation rate, 0.08%; 1 per 1298 procedures）. Perfo- ration rates for specific procedure types were 0.02% （1 per 5500） for polypectomy, 0.17% （1 per 561） for EMR, 2.3% （1 per 43） for ESD in the tertiary hospital. There were no differences in the perforation rates for each therapeutic procedure between the clinic and the tertiary hospital. The incidence of iatrogenic perforation requiring surgical treatment was quite low in both the clinic and the tertiary hospital. No procedure-related mortalities occurred. Performing closure with endoscopic clipping reduced the C-reactive protein （CRP） titers. The mean maximum CRP titer was 2.9：1：1.6 mg/dL with clipping and 9.7 ＋ 6.2 mg/dL without clipping, respectively （P 〈 0.05）. An operation is indicated in the presence of a large perforation, and in the setting of generalized peritonitis or ongoing sepsis. Although we did not experience such case in the clinic, patients with large perforations should be immediately transferred to a tertiary hospital. Good relationships between local clinics and nearby tertiary hospitals should therefore be maintained. CONCLUSION： It was therefore found to be possible to perform endoscopic treatment at a local clinic when sufficient back up was available at a nearby tertiary hospital.

Hepatocellular carcinoma in extremely elderly patients:An analysis of clinical characteristics,prognosis and patient survival

AIM： To identify the clinical and prognostic features of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma （HCC） aged 80 years or more. METHODS： A total of 1310 patients with HCC were included in this study. Ninety-one patients aged 80 years or more at the time of diagnosis of HCC were defined as the extremely elderly group. Two hundred and thirty-four patients aged 〉/ 50 years but less than 60 years were regarded as the non-elderly group. RESULTS： The sex ratio （male to female） was significantly lower in the extremely elderly group （0.90：1） than in the non-elderly group （3.9：1, P〈 0.001）. The positive rate for HBsAg was significantly lower in the extremely elderly group and the proportion of patients negative for HBsAg and HCVAb obviously increased in the extremely elderly group （P〈 0.001）. There were no significant differences in the following parameters： diameter and number of tumors, Child-Pugh grading, tumor staging, presence of portal thrombosis or ascites, and positive rate for HCVAb. Extremely elderly patients did not often receive surgical treatment （P 〈 0.001） and they were more likely to receive conservative treatment （P〈 0.01）. There were no significant differences in survival curves based on the Kaplan-Meier methods in comparison with the overall patients between the two groups. However, the survival curves were significantly worse in the extremely elderly patients with stage Ⅰ/Ⅱ, stage Ⅰ/Ⅱ and Child-Pugh grade A cirrhosis in comparison with the non-elderly group. The causes of death did not differ among the patients, and most cases died of liverrelated diseases even in the extremely elderly patients. CONCLUSION： In the patients with good liver functions and good performance status, aggressive treatment for HCC might improve the survival rate, even in extremely elderly patients.

Analysis of ABC (D) stratification for screening patients with gastric cancer

AIM:To evaluate the value of ABC(D) stratification [combination of serum pepsinogen and Helicobacter pylori(H.pylori) antibody]of patients with gastric cancer.METHODS:Ninety-five consecutive patients with gastric cancer were enrolled into the study.The serum pepsinogenⅠ(PGⅠ) /pepsinogenⅡ(PGⅡ) and H.pylori antibody levels were measured.Patients were classified into five groups of ABC(D) stratification according to their serological status.Endoscopic findings of atrophic gastritis and histological differentiation were also analyzed in relation to the ABC(D) stratification.RESULTS:The mean patient age was(67.9±8.9) years.Three patients(3.2%) were classified into group A,7 patients(7.4%) into group A',27 patients(28.4%) into group B,54 patients(56.8%) into group C,and 4patients(4.2%) into group D,respectively.There were only three cases in group A when the patients taking acid proton pump inhibitors and those who had undergone eradication therapy for H.pylori(group A') were excluded.These three cases had mucosal atrophy in the grey zone according to the diagnostic manual of ABC(D) stratification.Histologically,the mean age of the patients with well differentiated adenocarcinoma was significantly higher than that of the patients with poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma(P<0.05) .There were no differences in the pattern of atrophy in the endoscopies between the well differentiated and poorly differentiated groups.CONCLUSION:ABC(D) stratification is a good method for screening patients with gastric cancers.Endoscopy is needed for grey zone cases to check the extent of mucosal atrophy.

Overexpression of NK2 inhibits liver regeneration after partial hepatectomy in mice

AIM： To investigate the in vivo effects of NK2 on liver regeneration after partial hepatectomy （PH）. METHODS： Survival after PH was observed with 21 NK2 transgenic mice and 23 wild-type （WT） mice over 10 d. Liver regeneration was analyzed using histology and immunohistochemistry. Expressions of genes were analyzed using Northern blot analysis, immunoprecipitation and immunoblotting, and reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction assay. Kaplan Meier method and the log-rank test were used for analyzing the survival after PH. Differences in the results of immunohistochemistry and percentage of liver regeneration was determined by the Student＇s t-test. RESULTS： More than half of NK2 transgenic mice died within 48 h after PH. After PH, increased deposition of small lipid droplets in hepatocytes was evident and hepatic proliferation was inhibited in NK2 transgenic mice. The hepatic expression and kinase activity of HGF receptor, c-Met, were unchanged among WT mice and NK2 transgenic mice after PH. The expression of tumor necrosis factor-co （TNF-c0 and interleukin-6 （IL-6） in liver tissues were prolonged in NK2 transgenic mice that died after PH. CONCLUSION： Our findings indicate that overexpression of NK2 inhibits liver regeneration after PH.

Living-related liver transplantation for multiple liver metastases from rectal carcinoid tumor: A case report

A 42-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital because of multiple liver tumors detected by ultrasonography. Colonoscopy revealed submucosal tumor in the rectum, which was considered the primary lesion. Endoscopic mucosal resection followed by histopathological examination revealed that the tumor was carcinoid. The resected margin of the tumor was positive for malignant cells. Two courses to transcatheter arterial chemotherapy for liver metastasis were ineffective. Accordingly, the rectal tumor and metastatic lymph nodes were surgically resected. One month after the operation, she received liver transplantation （left lateral segment and caudate lobe） from her son. No recurrent lesion has been observed at two years after the liver transplantation. Liver transplantation should be considered as a treatment option even in advanced case of carcinoid metastasis to the liver. We also discuss the literature on liver transplantation for metastatic carcinoid tumor.

Triple therapy of interferon and ribavirin with zinc supplementation for patients with chronic hepatitis C:A randomized controlled clinical trial

AIM： To study the therapeutic effect of interferon （IFN） and ribavirin with zinc supplement on patients with chronic hepatitis C viral （HCV） infection. METHODS： A total of 102 patients confirmed histologically to have chronic HCV infection with genotype lb and more than 100 KIU/mL of HCV were randomly assigned to each arm of the study and each received 10 million units of pegylated interferon （IFN- alpha-2b） daily for 4 wk followed by the same dose every other day for 20 wk plus ribavirin （600 or 800 mg/d depending on body weight）, with or without polaprezinc （150 mg/d） orally for 24 wk. The primary endpoint was sustained virological response （SVR） defined as negative HCV-RNA in the serum 6 mo after treatment. RESULTS： There were no differences in the clinical background between the two groups except for more females in the dual therapy group than in the other group （P〈 0.05）. SVR was observed in 33.3% of the triple therapy group and 33.3% of the dual therapy group. The side effects were almost the same in both groups except for gastrointestinal symptoms, which were less in the triple therapy group （P= 0.019）. CONCLUSION： Considered together, triple therapy of zinc plus IFN and ribavirin for HCV infection patients with genotype lb and high viral load is not better than dual therapy except for lower incidence of gastrointestinal side effects.

Different outcomes of nosocomial infection with hepatitis C virus from the same origin

The outcome of infection with hepatitis C virus （HCV） varies substantially from self-limiting infection to chronic hepatitis, liver cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma among the individuals. The mechanisms that determine the clearance or the persistence of HCV have not yet been clarified. Here, we experienced two cases of hospital-related infection with HCV from the same origin but with quite different outcomes. One case resolved after an episode of acute hepatitis, while the other case developed a chronic hepatitis although they were infected with HCV of the same origin. Although infected with the virus of the same origin, the clinical and virological courses were completely different. This suggests that host factors play a major role in conditioning the outcome of acute HCV infection.