Skull metastasis from hepatocellular carcinoma with chronic hepatitis B

A 56-year-old male visited our hospital for evaluation of an occipital mass.Contrast computed tomography showed hypervascular enhancement with osteolytic change in the skull and a huge enhanced mass in the liver.Magnetic resonance imaging showed bone metastasis in the thoracic vertebrae.Assays for hepatitis B surface antigen and hepatitis B core antibody were positive and his liver condition was Child-Pugh grade A.Our diagnosis was hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC) with skull and vertebrae metastases on chronic hepatitis B.He was treated with radiation therapy for bone metastases and transcatheter arterial chemoembolization for HCC.But he developed acute respiratory failure because of aspiration pneumonia,congestion and oedema with haemorrhage of the lungs and died.Dissection showed HCC with multiple bone metastases.The liver tumor was categorized as well-differentiated HCC,Edmondson classification Ⅰ,trabecular type and pseudoglandular type.In the liver mild infiltration of lymphocytes was seen in Glisson's capsules which were signif icantly enlarged with well preserved limiting plates.Piecemeal necrosis was not obvious.No fibrosis was noted.An 8 cm × 7 cm × 3 cm metastatic lesion had formed in the left occipitotemporal part of the cranial bone.The lesion was osteolytic and showed invasion into the dura mater.Neither the subdural cavity nor the brain showed involvement from the metastatic tumor.However,skull metastasis from HCC is very rare and it affects the patient's prognosis and the quality of life.Therefore,it is very important to make an early diagnosis and carry out proper management of skull metastasis from HCC.

Evaluation of novel slim biopsy forceps for diagnosis of biliary strictures: Single-institutional study of consecutive 360 cases(with video)

AIM To evaluate the feasibility and reliability of endoscopic transpapillary bile duct biopsy for the diagnosis of biliary strictures.METHODS A total of 360 patients(241 men) who underwent endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography for biliary strictures with biopsy from April 2012 to March 2016 at Tokyo Medical University Hospital were retrospectively reviewed. This study was approved by our Institutional Review Board(No. 3516). Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in this study. The biopsy specimens were obtained using a novel slim biopsy forceps(Radial Jaw 4P, Boston Scientific, Boston, MA, United States).RESULTS The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and accuracy were 69.6%, 100%, 100%, 59.1%, and 78.8%, respectively. The sensitivity was 75.6% in bile duct cancer, 64% in pancreatic cancer, 61.1% in gallbladder cancer, and 57.1% in metastasis. In bile duct cancer, a lower sensitivity was observed for perihilar bile duct stricture(68.7%) than for distal bile duct stricture(83.1%). In terms of the stricture lengths of pancreatic cancer, gallbladder cancer, and metastasis, a longer stenosis resulted in a better sensitivity. In particular, there was a significant difference between pancreatic cancer and gallbladder cancer(P < 0.05). One major complication was perforation of the extrahepatic bile duct with bile leakage. CONCLUSION Endoscopic transpapillary biopsy alone using novel slim biopsy forceps is feasible and reliable, but restrictive. Biopsy should be performed in consideration of the stricture level, stricture length, and cancer type.