十二指肠癌漏诊分析

目的提高医务人员对十二指肠球部癌的认识,降低漏诊率。方法我们在近2年来常规内镜检查患者中,发现并病理活组织检查确诊十二指肠球部腺癌一例,现报告如下。结论十二指肠球部腺癌是少见病,其临床表现不典型,胃镜检查也易被漏诊,因此提高对二十指肠球部癌的认识,有着重要意义。

“Rescue” regimens after Helicobacter pylori treatment failure

Helicobacter pylori (H pylori) infection is the main cause of gastritis, gastroduodenal ulcer disease, and gastric cancer. After more than 20 years of experience in H pylori treatment, in my opinion, the ideal regimen to treat this infection is still to be found. Currently, apart from having to know first-line eradication regimens well, we must also be prepared to face treatment failures. Therefore, in designing a treatment strategy we should not focus on the results of primary therapy alone, but also on the final (overall) eradication rate. The choice of a "rescue" treatment depends on which treatment is used initially. If a clarithromycin- based regimen was used initially, a subsequent metronidazole-based treatment (quadruple therapy) may be used afterwards, and then a levofloxacin- based combination would be a third "rescue" option. Alternatively, it has recently been suggested that levofloxacin-based rescue therapy constitutes an encouraging second-line strategy, representing an alternative to quadruple therapy in patients with previous PPI-clarithromycin-amoxicillin failure, with the advantage of efficacy, simplicity and safety. In this case, a quadruple regimen may be reserved as a third-line rescue option. Finally, rifabutin-based rescue therapy constitutes an encouraging empirical fourth- line strategy after multiple previous eradication failures with key antibiotics such as amoxicillin, clarithromycin, metronidazole, tetracycline, and levofloxacin. Even after two consecutive failures, several studies have demonstrated that H pylori eradication can finally be achieved in almost all patients if several rescue therapies are consecutively given. Therefore, the attitude in H pylori eradication therapy failure, evenafter two or more unsuccessful attempts, should be to fight and not to surrender.

A gastrointestinal stromal tumor of the duodenum masquerading as a pancreatic head tumor

Gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) represents the most common kind of mesenchymal tumor that arises from the alimentary tract. GIST is currently defined as a gastrointestinal tract mesenchymal tumor showing CD117 (c-kit protein) positivity at immunohistochemistry. Throughout the whole length of the gastrointestinal tract, GIST arises most commonly from the stomach followed by the small intestine, the colorectum, and the esophagus. Only 3%-5% of GISTs occur in the duodenum, and especially, if GIST arises from the C loop of the duodenum, it can be difficult to differentiate from the pancreas head mass because of its anatomical proximity. Here, we report a case of duodenal GIST, which was assessed as a pancreatic head tumor preoperatively.

Role of body mass index in colon cancer patients in Taiwan

AIM： To determine the effect of body mass index （BMI） on the characteristics and overall outcome of colon cancer in Taiwan. METHODS： From January 1995 to July 2003, 2138 patients with colon cancer were enrolled in this study. BMI categories （in kg/m2） were established according to the classification of the Department of Health of Tai- wan. Postoperative morbidities and mortality, and survival analysis including overall survival （OS）, disease- free survival （DFS）, and cancer-specific survival （CSS） were compared across the BMI categories.27 kg/m2） patients. Being female, apparently anemic, hypoalbuminemic, and having body weight loss was more likely among underweight patients than among the other patients （P 〈 0.001）. Underweight patients had higher mortality rate （P = 0.00.7） and lower OS （P 〈 0.001） and DFS （P = 0.002） than the other pa- tients. OS and DFS did not differ significantly between normal-weight, overweight, and obese patients, while CSS did not differ significantly with the BMI category. CONCLUSION： In Taiwan, BMI does not significantly affect colon-CSS. Underweight patients had a higher rate of surgical mortality and a worse OS and DFS than the other patients. Obesity does not predict a worse survival.

Laparoscopic and endoscopic co-operative surgery for nonampullary duodenal tumors

AIM To assess the safety and feasibility of laparoscopic and endoscopic co-operative surgery(LECS) for early nonampullary duodenal tumors.METHODS Twelve patients with a non-ampullary duodenal tumor underwent LECS at our hospital. One patient had two mucosal lesions in the duodenum. The indication for this procedure was the presence of duodenal tumors with a low risk for lymph node metastasis. In particular, the tumors included small(less than 10 mm) submucosal tumors(SMT) and epithelial mucosal tumors, such as mucosal cancers or large mucosal adenomas with malignant suspicion. The LECS procedures, such as full-thickness dissection for SMT and laparoscopic reinforcement after endoscopic submucosal dissection(ESD) for epithelial tumors, were performed for the 13 early duodenal lesions in 12 patients. Here we present the short-term outcomes and evaluate the safety and feasibility of this new technique.RESULTS Two SMT-like lesions and eleven superficial epithelial tumor-like lesions were observed. Seven and Six lesions were located in the second and third parts of the duodenum, respectively. All lesions were successfully resected en bloc. The defect in the duodenal wall was manually sutured after resection of the duodenal SMT. For epithelial duodenal tumors, the ulcer bed was laparoscopically reinforced via manual suturing after ESD. Intraoperative perforation occurred in two out of eleven epithelial tumor-like lesions during ESD; however, they were successfully laparoscopically repaired. The median operative time and intraoperative estimated blood loss were 322 min and 0 mL, respectively. Histological examination of the tumors revealed one adenoma with moderate atypia, ten adenocarcinomas, and two neuroendocrine tumors. No severe postoperative complications(Clavien-Dindo classification grade Ⅲ or higher) were reported in this series, but minor leakage secondary to pancreatic fistula occurred in one patient.CONCLUSION LECS can be a safe and minimally invasive treatment option for non-ampullary early duodenal tumors.

Helicobacter species ribosomal DNA in the pancreas, stomach and duodenum of pancreatic cancer patients

AIM： To determine whether gastric and enteric Helicobacter species are associated with pancreatic cancer. METHODS： Patients with exocrine pancreatic cancer （n = 40）, neuroendocrine cancer （n = 14）, multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 （n = 8）, and chronic pan- creatitis （n = 5） were studied. Other benign pancreatic diseases （n = 10） and specimens of normal pancreas （n = 7） were included as controls. Pancreatic tissue specimens were analyzed by Helicobacter-specific PCR-assay and products were characterized by denaturing gradient electrophoresis and DNA-sequencing. From a subset of the pancreatic cancer patients, gastric and/or duodenal tissue as well as gallbladder and ductus choledochus tissue were analyzed. Gallbladder and choledochus samples were included as controls. Stomach and duodenum samples were investigated to analyze whether a gastric helicobacter might disseminate to the pancreas in pancreatic cancer patients. Pancreatic specimens were analyzed by Bacteroidesspecific PCR for detecting the translocation of indigenous gut microbes to the diseased pancreas. RESULTS： He/icobacter DNA was detected in pancreas （tumor and/or surrounding tissue） of 75% of patients with exocrine cancer, 57% of patients with neuroendocrine cancer, 38% of patients with multiple endocrine neoplasia, and 60% of patients with chronic pancreatitis. All samples from other benign pancreatic diseases and normal pancreas were negative. Thirtythree percent of the patients were helicobacterpositive in gastroduodenal specimens. Surprisingly, H. bilis was identified in 60% of the positive gastroduodenal samples. All gallbladder and ductus choledochus specimens were negative for helicobacter. Bacteroides PCR-assay was negative for all pancreatic samples. CONCLUSION： Helicobacter DNA commonly detected in pancreatic cancer suggests a possible role of the emerging pathogens in the development of chronic pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer.

Pancreaticoduodenectomy for advanced gastric cancer with pancreaticoduodenal region involvement

AIM：To characterize the factors of the improved survival following combined pancreaticoduodenectomy（PD） and gastrectomy for the treatment of advanced gastric cancer with pancreaticoduodenal region involvement.METHODS：From 1995 to 2004,53 patients with primary gastric cancer were diagnosed with synchronous（n = 44） or metachronous（n = 9） pancreaticoduodenal region involvement.Of these,17 patients（32%） underwent total gastrectomy（TG） or distal subtotal gastrectomy（SG） combined with PD simultaneously.The preoperative demographic,clinical information,clinicopathologic features and the surgical results of these 17 patients were considered as factors influencing survival and were analyzed by the Kaplan-Meier method with log-rank comparison.RESULTS：The actual 1-and 3-year survival rates of these 17 patients after resection were 77% and 34%,respectively,and three patients survived for more than 5 years after surgery.The tumor-free resection margin（P = 0.0174） and a well-differentiated histologic type（P = 0.0011） were significant prognostic factors on univariate analysis.No mortality occurred within one mo after operation,postoperative weight loss of different degree was present in all the patients with TG and 12 cases had other complications.There were 9（53%） cases of recurrence in 5-48 mo after operation.The survival rate in the palliative and explorative group was significantly（P = 0.0064） lower than in the combined PD group.CONCLUSION： Judicious use of en bloc PD and gastrectomy and strictly preventing postoperative complications may improve the long-term survival for advanced gastric cancer patients with pancreaticoduodenal region involvement. Well-differentiated histology and negative resection margin are the most important predictors of long survival.

Long-term survival of a case with multiple liver metastases from duodenal gastrointestinal stromal tumor drastically reduced by the treatment with imatinib and hepatectomy

Constitutive activation of KIT receptor tyrosine kinase is a critical factor in the pathogenesis of gastrointestinal stromal tumors （GISTs）. But there is little information on whether combination of imatinib mesylate （IM） and surgical treatment can prolong survival in the cases with unresectable multiple liver metastases. We report a case of postoperative recurrence of GIST treated by the tyrosine kinase inhibitor IN and surgical treatment. The initial complete response （CR） to treatment continued for 18 mo, but single liver metastasis showed regrowth in the left hepatic lobe during IN treatment. After partial resection of the recurrent tumor, postoperative course was uneventful and the patient has survived without recurrence for 24 too. Currently, imatinib is the first- line therapy for non-resectable GISTs, but a single agent therapy often leads to tumor resistance. Even if tolerance to imatinib occurs, a combination of imatinib and surgical treatment can prolong survival in some cases as reported here. However, further studies on a large number of cases of recurrent GIST are necessary to evaluate the effectiveness of IN treatment combined with surgery.

Multiple carcinoids in the duodenum, pancreas and stomach accompanied with type A gastritis: A case report

We report a case of multiple duodenal, pancreatic, and gastric carcinoids. A 67-year old woman was admitted to our hospital for treatment of a duodenal carcinoid. Laboratory tests revealed that the patient was associated with macrocytic anemia and hypergastrinemia, and type A gastritis was shown by gastrofiberscopy. During surgery, another tumor was incidentally found in the head of the pancreas. The tumors in the duodenum and pancreas were completely excised by pancreatoduodenectomy and immunohistologically diagnosed as gastrin-and serotonin-producing carcinoids, respectively. Pathological examination revealed that in addition to the grossly found carcinoids, there were subclinical carcinoids, one of which was an endocrine cell micronest, located in the stomach and duodenum. The tumors in the duodenum, pancreas, and stomach showed different characteristics from one another morphologically and immunochemically. Although no definitive evidence has been obtained, some sort of genetic anomaly may have been involved in this case, and hypergastrinemia due to duodenal gastrinoma may induce multiple gastric carcinoids.

Involvement of methylation-associated silencing of formin 2 in colorectal carcinogenesis

AIM To investigate whether promoter methylation is re-sponsible for the silencing of formin 2 （ FMN2） in colorectal cancer （CRC） and to analyze the association between FMN2 methylation and CRC.METHODSWe frst identifed the expression levels and methylation levels of FMN2 in large-scale human CRC expression data-sets, including GEO and TCGA, and analyzed the relation-ship between the expression and methylation levels. Then, the methylation levels in four CpG regions adjacent to the FMN2 promoter were assessed by MethylTarget？ assays in CRC cells and in paired colorectal tumor samples and adjacent nontumor tissue samples. Furthermore, we inhibited DNA methylation in CRC cells with 5-Aza-2’-deoxycytidine and assessed the expression of FMN2 by qRT-PCR. Last, the association between FMN2 methylation patterns and clinical indicators was analyzed.RESULTSA statistically significant downregulation of FMN2 ex-pression in large-scale human CRC expression datasets was found. Subsequent analysis showed that a high frequency of hypermethylation occurred in the FMN2 gene promoter in CRC tissues; operating characteristic curve analysis revealed that FMN2 gene methylation had a good capability for discriminating between CRC and nontumor tissue samples （AUC = 0.8432, P 〈 0.0001）. MethylTarget？ assays showed that CRC cells and tissues displayed higher methylation of these CpG regions than nontumor tissue samples. Correlation analysis showed a strong inverse correlation between methylation and FMN2 expression, and the inhibition of DNA methylation with 5-Aza significantly increased endogenous FMN2 expression. Analysis of the association between FMN2 methylation patterns and clinical indicators showed that FMN2 methylation was signifcantly associated with age, N stage, lymphovascular invasion, and pathologic tumor stage. Notably, the highest methylation of FMN2 occurred in tissues from cases of early-stage CRC, including cases with no regional lymph node metastasis （N0）, cases in stages Ⅰ and Ⅱ, and cases with no lymphovascular inva-sion, but the methylation level began to decrease with tumor progression. Additionally, FMN2 promoter hyper-methylation was more common in patients 〉 60 years old and in colon cancer tissue.CONCLUSIONFMN2 promoter hypermethylation may be an important early event in CRC, most likely playing a critical role in cancer initiation, and can serve as an ideal diagnostic biomarker in elderly patients with early-stage colon cancer.

Pseudoaneurysm of gastroduodenal artery following radical gastrectomy for gastric carcinoma patients

We report a rare case of postoperative pseudoaneurysm of the gastroduodenal artery following radical gastrectomy.Surgical trauma to the gastroduodenal artery during regional lymphadenectomy was considered as the cause of the postoperative pseudoaneurysm. The pseudoaneurysm was successfully managed by ligating the bleeding vessel. We should consider the possibility of pseudoaneurysm formation in a patient with gastrointestinal bleeding in the postoperative period following radical gastrectomy with regional lymph node and perivascular lymphatic dissection.

The Quality of Life of Gastric Cancer Patients with and without Duodenal Passage Reconstructions after Total Gastrectomy

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the Quality of Life of the patients who received a total gastrectomy with different kinds of reconstruction methods. METHODS Patients who received a total gastrectomy between May 1999 to May 2003 were followed-up via questionnaires. Fifty-nine who were alive more than 2 years with no sigh of recurrence were enrolled in this study. The patients were divided into 2 groups as follows： a group treated with reconstruction with a duodenal passage after total gastrectomy （gastric substitute, GS）; and a group receiving reconstruction without duodenal passage after total gastrectomy （Jejenal pouch, JP）. Follow-up feedback data of 14 items from the patients were analyzed, comparing the Quality of Life （QOL） between the 2 groups. RESULTS Six months after operation, the most common symptoms of all patients were reflux and loss of body weight, but there was no statistically significant differences in the 14 items related to the special post-operation symptoms between the 2 groups. At 12 months after the operations, there were significant differences between the 2 groups in body weight （P=0.01）, eating time （P=0.034〈0.05）, and frequency of food intake （P= 0.040〈0.05）; At 24 months after the operations, the only difference between the 2 groups was body weight gain （P=0.025〈0.05）. The JP group was better than the GS group. CONCLUSION The JP reconstruction pattern is superior to a simple GS in gain of body weight, volume of food intake and frequency of food intake, soon after the operation.

Carcinoma of the middle bile duct:Is bile duct segmental resection appropriate?

AIM:To compare survival between bile duct segmental resection(BDSR)and pancreaticoduodenectomy(PD) for treating distal bile duct cancers. METHODS:Retrospective analysis was conducted for 45 patients in a BDSR group and for 149 patients in a PD group. RESULTS:The T-stage(P<0.001),lymph node invasion (P=0.010)and tumor differentiation(P=0.005)were significant prognostic factors in the BDSR group.The 3-and 5-year overall survival rates for the BDSR group and PD group were 51.7%and 36.6%,respectively and 46.0%and 38.1%,respectively(P=0.099).The BDSR group and PD group did not show any significant difference in survival when this was adjusted for the TNM stage.The 3-and 5-year survival rates were: stageⅠa[BDSR(100.0%and 100.0%)vs PD(76.9% and 68.4%)(P=0.226)];stageⅠb[BDSR(55.8% and 32.6%)vs PD(59.3%and 59.3%)(P=0.942)]; stageⅡb[BDSR(19.2%and 19.2%)vs PD(31.9%and 14.2%)(P=0.669)]. CONCLUSION:BDSR can be justified as an alternative radical operation for patients with middle bile duct inselected patients with no adjacent organ invasion and resection margin is negative.

Effects of refluxate pH values on duodenogastroesophageal reflux-induced esophageal adenocarcinoma

AIM： To determine the effects of duodenogastric juice pH on the development of esophageal adenocarcinoma （EAC）. METHODS： An animal model of duodenogastroesophageal reflux was established using Sprague-Dawley （SD） rats undergoing esophagoduodenostomy （ED）. The development of EAC was investigated in rats exposed to duodenogastric juice of different pH. The rats were di- vided into three groups： Iow-pH group （group A）, high- pH group （group B） and a sham-operated group as a control （group C） （n = 30 rats in each group）. The inci- dence of esophagitis, Barrett＇s esophagus （BE）, intestinal metaplasia with dysplasia and EAC was observed 40 wk after the treatment. RESULTS： The incidence rate of esophagitis, BE, intestinal metaplasia with dysplasia and EAC was higher in groups A and B compared with the control group after 40 wk （P 〈 0.01）, being 96% and 100% （P 〉 0.05）, 88% and 82.4% （P 〉 0.05）, 20% and 52.1% （P 〈 0.05）, and 8% and 39% （P 〈 0.05）, respectively. CONCLUSION： Non-acidic refluxate increases the occurrence of intestinal metaplasia with dysplasia and EAC while the Iow-pH gastric juice exerts a protective effect in the presence of duodenal juice. The non-acid reflux is particularly important in the progression from BE to cancer. Therefore, control of duodenal reflux may be an important prophylaxis for EAC.

Standard Versus Extended Pancreaticoduodenectomy in Treating Adenocarcinoma of the Head of the Pancreas

Objectives To compare the postoperative complications and survival of standard pancreatoduodenectomy （SPD） and extended pancreatoduodenectomy （EPD） in patients with resectable adenocarcinoma of the head of the pancreas. Methods Between January 1994 and December 2011, 165 patients with biopsy-proven adenocardnoma of the pancreatic head were treated in West China Hospital, among whom 93 underwent SPD and 72 had EPD. Complications and survival after the surgery were analyzed retrospectively. Results The median operation time of the EPD group was longer compared with the SPD group （375 minutes vs. 310 minutes, P〈O.O1）, the volume of blood transfusion was larger （700 mL vs. 400 mL, P〈0.05）, while the median hospital stay （13.5 days vs. 12 days, P = 0.79） and the total complication rates were comparable （34.7% vs. 32.4%, P=0.93）. The total recurrence rates of the SPD and EPD groups were not significantly different （52.7% vs. 43.1%, P=0,83）. No significant differences were found between the SPD and EPD groups in 1-year （81.7% vs. 86.1%）, 3-year （38.7% vs. 43.1%）, 5-year （16.7% vs. 19.4%）, and median survivals （19.8 months vs. 23.2 months, P= 0.52）. Conclusion The postoperative complications and survival donot differ significantly between SPD and EPD.

Melena:A rare complication of duodenal metastases from primary carcinoma of the lung

Small bowel metastases from primary carcinoma of the lung are very uncommon and occur usually in patients with terminal stage disease. These metastases are usually asymptomatic, but may present as perforation, obstruction, malabsorption, or hemorrhage. Hemorrhage as a first presentation of small bowel metastases is extremely rare and is related to very poor patient survival. We describe a case of a 61- year old patient with primary adenocarcinoma of the lung, presenting with melena as the first manifestation of small bowel metastasis. Both primary tumor and metastatic lesions were diagnosed almost simultaneously. Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy performed with a colonoscope revealed active bleeding from a metastatic tumor involving the duodenum and the proximal jejunum. Histological examination and immunohistochemical staining of the biopsy specimen strongly supported the diagnosis of metastatic lung adenocarcinoma, suggesting that small bowel metastases from primary carcinoma of the lung occur usually in patients with terminal disease and rarely produce symptoms. Gastrointestinal bleeding from metastatic small intestinal lesions should be included in the differential diagnosis of gastrointestinal blood loss in a patient with a known bronchogenic tumor.

Pancreas duodenal homeobox-1 expression and significance in pancreatic cancer

AIM： To study the correlations of Pancreas duodenal homeobox-1 with pancreatic cancer characteristics, including pathological grading, TNM grading, tumor metastasis and tumor cell proliferation. METHODS： Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction （RT-PCR） was used to detect PDX-1 mRNA expression in pancreatic cancer tissue and normal pancreatic tissue. The expression of PDX-1 protein was measured by Western blot and immunohistochemistry. Immunohistochemistry was also used to detect proliferative cell nuclear antigen （PCNA）. Correlations of PDX-1 with pancreatic cancer characteristics, including pathological grading, TNM grading, tumor metastasis and tumor cell proliferation, were analyzed by using χ^2 test. RESULTS： Immunohistochemistry showed that 41.1% of pancreatic cancers were positive for PDX-1 expression, but normal pancreatic tissue except islets showed no staining for PDX-1. In consistent with the result of imunohistochemistry, Western blot showed that 37.5% of pancreatic cancers were positive for PDX-1. RT-PCR showed that PDX-1 expression was significantly higher in pancreatic cancer tissues than normal pancreatic tissues （2^-3.56±0.35 vs 2^-8.76±0.14, p 〈 0.01）. Lymph node metastasis （P 〈 0.01）, TNM grading （P 〈 0.05）, pathological grading （P 〈 0.05） and tumor cell proliferation （P 〈 0.01） were significantly correlated with PDX-1 expression levels. CONCLUSION： PDX-1 is re-expressed in pancreatic cancer, and PDX-l-positive pancreatic cancer cells show more malignant potential compared to PDX-l-negative cells. Therefore, PDX-l-positive cells may be tumor stemcells and PDX-1 may act as alternate surface marker of pancreatic cancer stem cells.

Pancreaticoduodenectomy for duodenal papilla carcinoma: A single-centre 9-year retrospective study of 112 patients with long-term follow-up

AIM To retrospectively evaluate the factors that influence long-term outcomes of duodenal papilla carcinoma (DPC) after standard pancreaticoduodenectomy (SPD). METHODS This is a single-centre, retrospective study including 112 DPC patients who had a SPD between 2006 and 2015. Associations between serum levels of CA19-9 and CEA and various clinical characteristics of 112 patients with DPC were evaluated by the. 2 test and Fisher's exact test. The patients were followed-up every 3 mo in the first two years and at least every 6 mo afterwards, with a median follow-up of 60 mo (ranging from 4 mo to 168 mo). Survival analysis was conducted using the Kaplan-Meier survival and Cox proportional hazards model analysis. The difference in survival curves was evaluated with a log-rank test. RESULTS In 112 patients undergoing SPD, serum levels of CA19-9 was associated with serum levels of CEA and drainage mode (the P values were 0.000 and 0.033, respectively); While serum levels of CEA was associated with serum levels of CA19-9 and differentiation of the tumour (the P values were 0.000 and 0.033, respectively). The serum levels of CA19-9 and CEA were closely correlated (chi(2) = 13.277, r = 0.344, P = 0.000). The overall 5-year survival was 50.00% for 112 patients undergoing SPD. The Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that increased serum levels of CA19-9, CEA, and total bilirubin were correlated with a poor prognosis, as well as a senior grade of infiltration depth, lymph node metastases, and TNM stage(the P values were 0.033, 0.018, 0.015, 0.000, 0.000 and 0.000, respectively). Only the senior grade of infiltration depth and TNM stage retained their significance when adjustments were made for other known prognostic factors in Cox multivariate analysis (RR = 2.211, P = 0.022 and RR = 2.109, P = 0.047). CONCLUSION For patients with DPC, the serum levels of CA19-9 and CEA were closely correlated, and play an important role in poor survival. Increased serum levels of total bilirubin and lymph node metastases were also correlated with a poor prognosis. The senior grade of infiltration depth and TNM stage can serve as independent prognosis indexes in the evaluation of patients with DPC after SPD.

Gastroenterostoma after Billroth antrectomy as a premalignant condition

Gastric stump carcinoma （GSC） following remote gastric surgery is widely recognized as a separate entity within the group of various types of gastric cancer. Gastrecto- my is a well established risk factor for the development of GSC at a long time after the initial surgery. Both exo- as well as endogenous factors appear to be involved in the etiopathogenesis of GSC, such as achlorhydria, hypergastrinemia and biliary reflux, Epstein-Barr virus and Helicobacter pylori infection, atrophic gastritis, and also some polymorphisms in interleukin-l~ and maybe cyclo-oxygenase-2. This review summarizes the litera- ture of GSC, with special reference to reliable early di- agnostics. In particular, dysplasia can be considered as a dependable morphological marker. Therefore, close endoscopic surveillance with multiple biopsies of the gastroenterostomy is recommended. Screening start- ing at 15 years after the initial ulcer surgery can detect tumors at a curable stage. This approach can be ofspecial interest in Eastern European countries, where surgery for benign gastroduodenal ulcers has remained a practice for a much longer time than in Western Eu- rope, and therefore GSC is found with higher frequency.

Duodenal variceal bleeding after balloon-occluded retrograde transverse obliteration: Treatment with transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt

We report a case of duodenal varix bleeding as a long term complication of balloon occluded retrograde transvenous obliteration (BRTO), which was successfully treated with a transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS). A 57-year-old man was admitted to the emergency room suffering from melena. He had under-gone BRTO to treat gastric varix bleeding 5 mo before admission. Endoscopy and a computed tomography (CT) scan showed complete obliteration of the gastric varix, but the nodular varices in the second portion of the duodenum expanded after BRTO, and spurting blood was seen. TIPS was performed for treatment of duodenal variceal bleeding, because attempts at endoscopic varix ligation were unsuccessful. The post-operative course was uneventful and the patient was discharged without complications. A follow up CT scan obtained 21 mo after TIPS revealed a patent TIPS tract and complete obliteration of duodenal varices, but multinodular hepatocellular carcinoma had developed. He died of hepatic failure 28 mo after TIPS.