Hepatobiliary tuberculosis in the developing world

BACKGROUND Hepatobiliary tuberculosis is a challenging disease that poses diagnostic difficulties due to its resemblance to other etiologies.Delayed diagnosis may lead to inadequate treatment,thus necessitating an urgent need for accurate diagnosis and appropriate management.AIM To systematically review case reports on hepatobiliary tuberculosis,focusing on symptomatology,diagnostic procedures,management,and outcomes to provide patient safety and ensure an uneventful recovery.METHODS A systematic search was conducted on PubMed from 1992 to 2022,using keywords such as hepatobiliary,liver,tuberculosis cholangitis,cholangiopathy,and mycobacterium.Only case reports or case series in English were included in the study,and research papers published as abstracts were excluded.The search yielded a total of 132 cases,which were further narrowed down to 17 case studies,consisting of 24 cases of hepatobiliary tuberculosis.RESULTS The 10 most common symptoms observed in these cases were fever,abdominal pain,weight loss,jaundice,anorexia,generalized weakness,pruritus,chills,fatigue,and chest pains.Objective findings in these cases included hepatomegaly,hepatic nodules,elevated liver enzymes,and elevated bilirubin.Computed tomography scan and ultrasound of the abdomen were the most useful diagnostic tools reported.Histologic demonstration of Mycobacterium tuberculosis confirmed the cases of hepatobiliary tuberculosis.Treatment regimens commonly used included Rifampicin,Isoniazid,Pyrazinamide,and Ethambutol.Out of the 24 cases,18 presented improvements while 4 had completely recovered.CONCLUSION Hepatobiliary tuberculosis is a disease that requires accurate diagnosis and appropriate management to avoid complications.

Percutaneous transsplenic embolization of esophageal and gastrio-fundal varices in 18 patients

AIM: Clinical application and potential complication of percutaneous transsplenic varices embolization (PTSVE) of esophageal or gastrio-fundal varices in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) complicated with portal vein cancerous thrombosis (PVCT).METHODS: 18 patients with HCC complicated with PVCT and esophageal or gastrio-fundal varices who underwent PTSVE were collected. The rate of success, complication, mortality of the procedure and postoperative complication were recorded and analyzed.RESULTS: PTSVE were successfully performed in 16 of 18cases, and the rate of success was 89%. After therapy erythrocyte counts decreased in all of the natunts. 5 of patients needed blood transfusion, 2 patients requiredsurgical intervention because of and 11 patients with ascites were alleviated by diuresis. Among these 18patients, the procedure-related mortality was 11% (2/18),one died of acute hepatic failure on the forth day after procedure, another died of acute renal failure on the fifth day. The patients were follow up for 112 mon exceptone. 13of them died of their tumors but none of them experienced variceal bleeding.CONCLUSION: PTSVE is a relatively safe and effective method to treat esophageal or gastrio-fundal varices in HCCpatients with PVCT when percutaneous transhepatic varices embolization (PTHVE) of varices is impossible.

Endoscopic ultrasound-guided vs endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography biliary drainage for obstructed distal malignant biliary strictures: A systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND For palliation of malignant biliary obstruction(MBO), the gold-standard method of biliary drainage is endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography(ERCP)with the placement of metallic stents. Endoscopic ultrasound(EUS)-guided drainage is an alternative that is typically reserved for cases of ERCP failure.Recently, however, there have been robust randomized clinical trials(RCTs)comparing EUS-guided drainage and ERCP as primary approaches to MBO.AIM To compare EUS guidance and ERCP in terms of their effectiveness and safety in palliative biliary drainage for MBO.METHODS This was a systematic review and meta-analysis, in which we searched the MEDLINE, Excerpta Medica, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials databases. Only RCTs comparing EUS and ERCP for primary drainage of MBO were eligible. All of the studies selected provided data regarding the rates of technical and clinical success, as well as the duration of the procedure, adverse events, and stent patency. We assessed the risk of biases using the Jadad score and the quality of evidence using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment,Development and Evaluation criteria.RESULTS The database searches yielded 5920 records, from which we selected 3 RCTs involving a total of 222 patients(112 submitted to EUS and 110 submitted to ERCP). In the EUS and ERCP groups, the rate of technical success was 91.96%n and 91.81%, respectively, with a risk difference(RD) of 0.00%(95%CI:-0.07, 0.07;P = 0.97; I^2 = 0%). The clinical success was 84.81% and 85.53% in the EUS and ERCP groups, respectively, with an RD of-0.01%(95%CI:-0.12, 0.10; P = 0.90; I^2 =0%). The mean difference(MD) for the duration of the procedure was-0.12%(95%CI:-8.20, 7.97; P = 0.98; I^2 = 84%). In the EUS and ERCP groups, there were14 and 25 adverse events, respectively, with an RD of-0.06%(95%CI:-0.23, 0.12; P= 0.54; I^2 = 77%). The MD for stent patency was 9.32%(95%CI:-4.53, 23.18; P =0.19; I^2 = 44%). The stent dysfunction rate was significantly lower in the EUS t group(MD =-0.22%; 95 CI:-0.35,-0.08; P = 0.001; I^2 = 0%).CONCLUSION EUS represents an interesting alternative to ERCP for MBO drainage,demonstrating lower stent dysfunction rates compared with ERCP. Technical and clinical success, duration, adverse events and patency rates were similar.