Background
It has been suggested that EUS-BD may be a feasible and safer alternative to percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage (PTBD) after failed ERCP in patients with ascites. To date, no study ...has specifically evaluated the performance of EUS-BD in this context.
Methods
Retrospective analysis was done for patients with and without ascites who underwent EUS-BD for malignant biliary obstruction after failed ERCP between July 2010 and September 2014. Complications and technical and clinical successes between the two groups were compared.
Results
A total of 31 patients were included: 20 patients without ascites (group 1) and 11 with ascites (group 2). Nineteen patients underwent EUS-hepaticogastrostomy (six in group 2), and 12 underwent EUS-choledochoduodenostomy (five in group 2). Technical success was achieved in all patients. Clinical success was observed in 95% (
n
= 19) in group 1 and 64% (
n
= 7) in group 2 (
p
= 0.042). In three out of four patients without clinical success in group 2, the follow-up period was not long enough to observe the clinical response because of early death within the 2 weeks after EUS-BD secondary to disease progression or preprocedural unresponsive sepsis. No significant differences were observed between groups 1 and 2 either in the overall rates of procedural-related complications (20 and 9%, respectively,
p
= 0.63) or in the rates of major complications (15 vs 9%, respectively,
p
= 0.639). Stent migration occurred in one patient in each group, intra- or post-procedural bleeding occurred in two patients in group 1, which was conservatively managed, and one patient in group 1 presented biliary leakage. Stent patency and the number of re-interventions were not significantly different.
Conclusions
EUS-BD is technically feasible in patients with ascites. Our results suggest that EUS-BD may be a clinically effective and safe alternative after failed ERCP in patients with ascites.
A fluorescent pentamer
5QnQnPV
with one phenyl central donor group surrounded by four quinoline acceptor groups set in a quadrupolar A-π-A-π-D-π-A-π-A electronic structure was synthesized. This ...compound is an organic semiconductor and shows a wide band fluorescence emission that spans from the blue to the red region with a maximum peak centered at 509 nm. In addition, its HOMO (− 5.4 eV)/LUMO (− 3.5 eV) energy values, determined by cyclic voltammetry, optical gap E
gOpt
of 2.18 and theoretical DT-DFT studies indicated a potential for OLED fabrication. When such device was made with a ITO/PEDOT:PSS/5QnQnPV/Al configuration it displayed a maximum electroluminescent response at 860 nm. The structural and physical characterization of this compound was performed using
1
H and
13
C Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, Fourier Transformed Infrared Spectroscopy, Mass Spectroscopy and Atomic Force Microscopy.
Introduction
Drug-induced subacute cutaneous lupus erythematosus (DI-SCLE) has been associated with drugs with different mechanisms of action, including anti-hypertensives, tumour necrosis factor-α ...inhibitors and even some chemotherapy medicines. In the last years, a few reports have been described in patients treated with cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) 4/6 inhibitors, palbociclib and abemaciclib.
Case report
Here, we describe a case of DI-SCLE in association with ribociclib and exemestane in a woman diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer.
Management and outcome
Topical mometasone was prescribed for two weeks with complete resolution of lesions, also abemaciclib was substituted for ribociclib, and the patient had stable disease with no relapse of DI-SCLE.
Discussion
To our knowledge, this is the first report of ribociclib-induced SCLE but based on the DI-SCLE reported cases associated others CDK4/6 inhibitors, the role of this family of drugs in dermatopathology must be further investigated.
Obesity is a growing problem in developed countries,and surgery is the most effective treatment in terms of weight loss and improving medical comorbidity in a high proportion of obese ...patients.Despite the advances in surgical techniques,some patients still develop acute and late postoperative complications,and an endoscopic evaluation is often required for diagnosis.Moreover,the high morbidity related to surgical reintervention,the important enhancement of endoscopic procedures and technological innovations introduced in endoscopic equipment have made the endoscopic approach a minimally-invasive alternative to surgery,and,in many cases,a suitable first-line treatment of bariatric surgery complications.There is now evidence in the literature supporting endoscopic management for some of these complications,such as gastrointestinal bleeding,stomal and marginal ulcers,stomal stenosis,leaks and fistulas or pancreatobiliary disorders.However,endoscopic treatment in this setting is not standardized,and there is no consensus on its optimal timing.In this article,we aim to analyze the secondary complications of the most expanded techniques of bariatric surgery with special emphasis on those where more solid evidence exists in favor of the endoscopic treatment.Based on a thorough review of the literature,we evaluated the performance and safety of different endoscopic options for every type of complication,highlighting the most recent innovations and including comparative data with surgical alternatives whenever feasible.
Colonoscopy screening is underused by first-degree relatives (FDRs) of patients with non-syndromic colorectal cancer (CRC) with screening completion rates below 50%. Studies conducted in FDR referred ...for screening suggest that fecal immunochemical testing (FIT) was not inferior to colonoscopy in terms of diagnostic yield and tumor staging, but screening uptake of FIT has not yet been tested in this population. In this study, we investigated whether the uptake of FIT screening is superior to the uptake of colonoscopy screening in the familial-risk population, with an equivalent effect on CRC detection. This open-label, parallel-group, randomized trial was conducted in 12 Spanish centers between February 2016 and December 2021. Eligible individuals included asymptomatic FDR of index cases <60 years, siblings or greater than or equal to2 FDR with CRC. The primary outcome was to compare screening uptake between colonoscopy and FIT. The secondary outcome was to determine the efficacy of each strategy to detect advanced colorectal neoplasia (adenoma or serrated polyps greater than or equal to10 mm, polyps with tubulovillous architecture, high-grade dysplasia, and/or CRC). Screening-naïve FDR were randomized (1:1) to one-time colonoscopy versus annual FIT during 3 consecutive years followed by a work-up colonoscopy in the case of a positive test. Randomization was performed before signing the informed consent using computer-generated allocation algorithm based on stratified block randomization. Multivariable regression analysis was performed by intention-to-screen. On December 31, 2019, when 81% of the estimated sample size was reached, the trial was terminated prematurely after an interim analysis for futility. Study outcomes were further analyzed through 2-year follow-up. The main limitation of this study was the impossibility of collecting information on eligible individuals who declined to participate. In this study, compared to colonoscopy, FIT screening did not improve screening uptake by individuals at high risk of CRC, resulting in less detection of advanced colorectal neoplasia. Further studies are needed to assess how screening uptake could be improved in this high-risk group, including by inclusion in population-based screening programs.
The role of bronchial provocation tests in the diagnosis of asthma remains to be fully explored. We aimed to evaluate methacholine and mannitol challenge testing, and explore the factors associated ...with this broncoprovocation response.
Observational, cross-over, randomized trial evaluating adult cases with suspected asthma, naïve to treatment, with normal pre-bronchodilator spirometry, and negative bronchodilator test. Patients were randomized to start with methacholine or mannitol. The diagnosis of bronchial asthma was confirmed if there was a good functional and clinical response to one month with twice daily formoterol/budesonide 9/320. The diagnostic profile and the concordance were calculated. Factors associated with a positive provocation test were entered into a multivariate binomial logistic regression analysis, and classification trees were created for both tests.
The study included 108 cases (50.0% diagnosed with asthma and 51.9% cases starting with methacholine). The percentage of cases positive to methacholine and mannitol were 30.6% and 25.0% respectively. Kappa values were 0.40 (p<0.001). The diagnostic profile for methacholine was sensitivity 59.3% and specificity 98.1%, while for mannitol it was sensitivity 48.1% and specificity 98.1%. Variables associated with a positive methacholine response included sex, atopy, FEV
, FEV
/FVC and FENO, whereas they were FEV
/FVC and FENO for mannitol. A FENO value>26ppb, FEV1≤103.3% and female sex correctly classified 78.7% of methacholine responders. FENO value>26ppb was enough to correctly classify 81.5% of mannitol responders.
Our study confirms the diagnostic profile of methacholine and mannitol challenge tests and describes the variable associated to their positivity with new proposed cutoff values.
Background
Aspirin (ASA) is a drug that can cause gastrointestinal lesions and symptoms. Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the most prevalent type of cancer in Western countries. We assessed the effect of ...aspirin on the diagnostic accuracy of the faecal immunochemical test (FIT) for CRC and/or advanced neoplasia (AN) in patients undergoing colonoscopy for gastrointestinal symptoms.
Methods
We conducted a prospective multicentre observational study of diagnostic tests that included patients with gastrointestinal symptoms undergoing colonoscopy between March 2012 and 2014 (the COLONPREDICT study). Symptoms were assessed and a FIT and blood tests assessing haemoglobin and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) levels were performed.
Results
The study included 3052 patients: A total of 2567 did not take aspirin (non-user group) and 485 (16%) took aspirin (user group). Continuous treatment with ASA did not change the AUC (0.88, 0.82; p = 0.06), sensitivity (92%, 88%; p = 0.5) or specificity (71%, 67%; p = 0.2) of the FIT for CRC detection. Similarly, we found no differences in the AUC (0.81, 0.79; p = 0.6), sensitivity (74%, 75.5%; p = 0.3) or specificity (76%, 73.6%; p = 0.3) for AN detection. Patients with an aspirin use of ≥ 300 mg/day had a lower prevalence of AN and the sensitivity, specificity and AUC for AN for these patients were 54%, 68% and 0.66, significantly lower than for the non-user group (p = 0.03).
Conclusions
Aspirin does not modify the diagnostic accuracy of FIT for CRC and/or AN in patients with gastrointestinal symptoms. Aspirin use of ≥ 300 mg/day decreases the accuracy of the test.
Early breast cancer patients often experience relapse due to residual disease after treatment. Liquid biopsy is a methodology capable of detecting tumor components in blood, but low concentrations at ...early stages pose challenges. To detect them, next-generation sequencing has promise but entails complex processes. Exploring larger blood volumes could overcome detection limitations. Herein, a total of 282 high-volume plasma and blood-cell samples were collected for dual ctDNA/CTCs detection using a single droplet-digital PCR assay per patient. ctDNA and/or CTCs were detected in 100% of pre-treatment samples. On the other hand, post-treatment positive samples exhibited a minimum variant allele frequency of 0.003% for ctDNA and minimum cell number of 0.069 CTCs/mL of blood, surpassing previous investigations. Accurate prediction of residual disease before surgery was achieved in patients without a complete pathological response. A model utilizing ctDNA dynamics achieved an area under the ROC curve of 0.92 for predicting response. We detected disease recurrence in blood in the three patients who experienced a relapse, anticipating clinical relapse by 34.61, 9.10, and 7.59 months. This methodology provides an easily implemented alternative for ultrasensitive residual disease detection in early breast cancer patients.
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