Biliary and pancreatic stenting:Devices and insertiontechniques in therapeutic endoscopic retrogradecholangiopancreatography and endoscopic ultrasonography

Stents are tubular devices made of plastic or metal. Endoscopic stenting is the most common treatment for obstruction of the common bile duct or of the main pancreatic duct, but also employed for the treatment of bilio-pancreatic leakages, for preventing post- endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography pancreatitis and to drain the gallbladder and pancreatic fluid collections. Recent progresses in techniques of stent insertion and metal stent design are represented by new, fullycovered lumen apposing metal stents. These stents are specifically designed for transmural drainage, with a saddle-shape design and bilateral flanges, to provide lumen-to-lumen anchoring, reducing the risk of migration and leakage. This review is an update of the technique of stent insertion and metal stent deployment, of the most recent data available on stent types and characteristics and the new applications for biliopancreatic stents.

Novel frontiers of agents for bowel cleansing for colonoscopy

The incidence of colorectal cancer(CRC)is characterized by rapid declines in the wake of widespread screening.Colonoscopy is the gold standard for CRC screening,but its accuracy is related to high quality of bowel preparation(BP).In this review,we aimed to summarized the current strategy to increase bowel cleansing before colonoscopy.Newly bowel cleansing agents were developed with the same efficacy of previous agent but requiring less amount of liquid to improve patients’acceptability.The role of the diet before colonoscopy was also changed,as well the contribution of educational intervention and the use of adjunctive drugs to improve patients’tolerance and/or quality of BP.The review also described BP in special situations,as lower gastrointestinal bleeding,elderly people,patients with chronic kidney disease,patients with inflammatory bowel disease,patients with congestive heart failure,inpatient,patient with previous bowel resection,pregnant/lactating patients.The review underlined the quality of BP should be described using a validate scale in colonoscopy report and it explored the available scales.Finally,the review explored the possible contribution of bowel cleansing in post-colonoscopy syndrome that can be related by a transient alteration of gut microbiota.Moreover,the study underlined several points needed to further investigations.

Diagnosis, treatment, and current concepts in the endoscopic management of gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms

Gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms(GEP-NENs)are rare tumors derived from the neuroendocrine cell system,which that have increased in incidence and prevalence in recent years.Despite improvements in radiological and metabolic imaging,endoscopy still plays a pivotal role in the number of GEPNENs.Tumor detection,characterization,and staging are essential in management and treatment planning.Upper and lower gastrointestinal(GI)endoscopy is essential for correct localization of the primary tumor site of GI NENs.Endoscopic ultrasonography(EUS)has an important role in the imaging and tissue acquisition of pancreatic NENs and locoregional staging of GI neuroendocrine tumors.Correct staging and histological diagnosis have important prognostic implications.Endoscopic operating techniques allow the removal of small GI NENs in the early stage of mucosal or submucosal invasion of the intestinal wall.Preoperative EUS-guided techniques may help the surgeon locate small and deep tumors,thus avoiding formal pancreatic resections in favor of parenchymal-sparing surgery.Finally,locoregional ablative treatments have been proposed in recent studies with promising results in selected patients.

Serologic diagnosis of celiac disease: May it be suitable for adults?

The diagnosis of coeliac disease(CD)in adult patients requires the simultaneous assessment of clinical presentation,serology,and typical histological picture of villous atrophy.However,several years ago,the European Society of Pediatric Gastroenterology,Hepatology,and Nutrition guidelines approved new criteria for the diagnosis in children:Biopsy could be avoided when antitransglutaminase antibody(TGA)values exceed the cut-off of×10 upper limit of normal(ULN)and anti-endomysium antibodies are positive,independently from value.This“no biopsy”approach is a decisive need for pediatric population,allowing to avoid stressful endoscopic procedures in children,if unnecessary.This approach relies on the correlation existing in children between TGA levels and assessment of mucosal atrophy according to Marsh’s classification.Several lines of evidence have shown that patients with villous atrophy have markedly elevated TGA levels.Therefore,we aim to perform a narrative review on the topic in adults.Despite that some studies confirmed that the×10 ULN threshold value has a very good diagnostic performance,several lines of evidence in adults suggest that TGA cut off should be different from that of pediatric population for reaching a good correlation with histological picture.In conclusion,the heterogeneity of study reports as well as some conditions,which may hamper the serological diagnosis of CD(such as seronegative CD and non-celiac villous atrophy)and are much more common in adults than in children,could represent a limitation for the“no biopsy”approach to CD diagnosis in patients outside the pediatric age.