Success, complication, and mortality rates of initial biliary drainage in patients with unresectable perihilar cholangiocarcinoma.

Background: The patients with unresectable perihilar cholangiocarcinoma require biliary drainage to relieve symptoms and allow for palliative systemic chemotherapy. The aim of this study was to establish the success, complication, and mortality rates of the initial biliary drainage in patients with unresectable perihilar cholangiocarcinoma at presentation.

Methods: In this retrospective multicenter study, patients with unresectable perihilar cholangiocarcinoma who underwent initial endoscopic or percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage between 2002 and 2014 were included.

Recurrent Disease After Esophageal Cancer Surgery: A Substudy of The Dutch Nationwide Ivory Study.

Objective: This study investigated the patterns, predictors, and survival of recurrent disease following esophageal cancer surgery.

Background: Survival of recurrent esophageal cancer is usually poor, with limited prospects of remission.

Methods: This nationwide cohort study included patients with distal esophageal and gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma after curatively intended esophagectomy in 2007 to 2016 (follow-up until January 2020).

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on incidence and severity of acute appendicitis: a comparison between 2019 and 2020.

Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, a decrease in the number of patients presenting with acute appendicitis was observed. It is unclear whether this caused a shift towards more complicated cases of acute appendicitis. We compared a cohort of patients diagnosed with acute appendicitis during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic with a 2019 control cohort.

Eligibility for Liver Transplantation in Patients with Perihilar Cholangiocarcinoma.

Background: Liver transplantation (LT) has been performed in a select group of patients presenting with unresectable or primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC)-associated perihilar cholangiocarcinoma (pCCA) in the Mayo Clinic with a reported 5-year overall survival (OS) of 53% on intention-to-treat analysis. The objective of this study was to estimate eligibility for LT in a cohort of pCCA patients in two tertiary referral centers.

Methods: Patients diagnosed with pCCA between 2002 and 2014 were included from two tertiary referral centers in the Netherlands.

Growth of hepatocellular adenoma during pregnancy: A prospective study.

Background & Aims: The presence of hepatocellular adenoma (HCA) in pregnant women requires special consideration, as it has been reported to carry the risk of growth and clinically significant haemorrhage. In this prospective study we assessed aspects of growth of HCA <5 cm during pregnancy.

Methods: This was a multicentre prospective cohort study in pregnant women with suspected HCA <5 cm on imaging.

Evaluation of the New American Joint Committee on Cancer Staging Manual 8th Edition for Perihilar Cholangiocarcinoma.

Background: The aim was to compare the prognostic accuracy of cross-sectional imaging of the 7th and 8th editions of the American Joint Committee on Cancer(AJCC) staging system for perihilar cholangiocarcinoma(PHC).

Methods: All patients with PHC between 2002 and 2014 were included. Imaging at the time of presentation was reassessed and clinical tumor-node-metastasis (cTNM) stage was determined according to the 7th and 8th editions of the AJCC staging system.

A preoperative prognostic model to predict surgical success in patients with perihilar cholangiocarcinoma.

Background: Patients with resectable perihilar cholangiocarcinoma (PHC) on imaging have a substantial risk of metastatic or locally advanced disease, incomplete (R1) resection, and 90-day mortality. Our aim was to develop a preoperative prognostic model to predict surgical success, defined as a complete (R0) resection without 90-day mortality, in patients with resectable PHC on imaging.

Study Design: Patients with PHC who underwent exploratory laparotomy in three tertiary referral centers were identified.

Growth of Focal Nodular Hyperplasia is Not a Reason for Surgical Intervention, but Patients Should be Referred to a Tertiary Referral Centre.

Background: When a liver lesion diagnosed as focal nodular hyperplasia (FNH) increases in size, it may cause doubt about the initial diagnosis. In many cases, additional investigations will follow to exclude hepatocellular adenoma or malignancy. This retrospective cohort study addresses the implications of growth of FNH for clinical management.

The prognostic value of portal vein and hepatic artery involvement in patients with perihilar cholangiocarcinoma.

Background: Although several classifications of perihilar cholangiocarcinoma (PHC) include vascular involvement, its prognostic value has not been investigated. Our aim was to assess the prognostic value of unilateral and main/bilateral involvement of the portal vein (PV) and hepatic artery (HA) on imaging in patients with PHC.

Methods: All patients with PHC between 2002 and 2014 were included regardless of stage or management.

Conditional survival in patients with unresectable perihilar cholangiocarcinoma.

Background: Conditional survival is the life expectancy from a point in time for a patient who has survived a specific period after presentation. The aim of the study was to estimate conditional survival for patients with unresectable perihilar cholangiocarcinoma.

Methods: Patients with unresectable perihilar cholangiocarcinoma from two academic hospitals in the Netherlands between 2002 and 2012 were assessed.

Inflammatory and multiple hepatocellular adenoma are associated with a higher BMI.

Aim: To identify patient and lesion characteristics associated with the occurrence of single or multiple hepatocellular adenoma (HCA).

Patients And Methods: Using a tertiary centre database, we retrospectively collected information on patient and lesion characteristics, management and follow-up of all patients with HCA included between 2001 and 2016. Patients were classified into three groups; patients with a single HCA, 2-9 HCA and at least 10 HCA.

Antibodies Against Immune Checkpoint Molecules Restore Functions of Tumor-Infiltrating T Cells in Hepatocellular Carcinomas.

Background & Aims: Ligand binding to inhibitory receptors on immune cells, such as programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) and cytotoxic T-lymphocyte associated protein 4 (CTLA4), down-regulates the T-cell-mediated immune response (called immune checkpoints). Antibodies that block these receptors increase antitumor immunity in patients with melanoma, non-small-cell lung cancer, and renal cell cancer. Tumor-infiltrating CD4 and CD8 T cells in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) have been found to be functionally compromised.

Survival after resection of perihilar cholangiocarcinoma in patients with lymph node metastases.

Background: The aim of this study was to compare patients with PHC with lymph node metastases (LN+) who underwent a resection with patients who did not undergo resection because of locally advanced disease at exploratory laparotomy.

Methods: Consecutive LN+ patients who underwent a resection for PHC in 12 centers were compared with patients who did not undergo resection because of locally advanced disease at exploratory laparotomy in 2 centers.

Results: In the resected cohort of 119 patients, the median overall survival (OS) was 19 months and the estimated 1-, 3- and 5-year OS was 69%, 27% and 13%, respectively.

Validation of the Mayo Clinic Staging System in Determining Prognoses of Patients With Perihilar Cholangiocarcinoma.

Background & Aims: Most systems for staging perihilar cholangiocarcinoma (PHC) have been developed for the minority of patients with resectable disease. The recently developed Mayo Clinic system for staging PHC requires only clinical and radiologic variables, but has not yet been validated. We performed a retrospective study to validate the Mayo Clinic staging system.

Evidence of good prognosis of hepatocellular adenoma in post-menopausal women.

Background & Aims: Hepatocellular adenoma (HCA) is a rare benign liver tumor, which typically develops in women in their reproductive phase and is associated with the use of oral contraceptives. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether follow-up of HCA can be safely terminated after the occurrence of menopause. Secondary, we studied the impact of the diagnosis HCA on health-related quality of life (HRQoL).

The new European Society of Cardiology guidelines on myocardial revascularisation: an appraisal.

The latest European Society of Cardiology (ESC) guidelines on myocardial revascularisation are reviewed. The nearly 300 recommendations make it difficult to apply them in their totality. The authors would propose 20-30 recommendations per guideline based on sound clinical evidence.

Comparison of six-year clinical outcome of sirolimus- and paclitaxel-eluting stents to bare-metal stents in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction: an analysis of the RESEARCH (rapamycin-eluting stent evaluated at Rotterdam cardiology hospital) and T-SEARCH (taxus stent evaluated at Rotterdam cardiology hospital) registries.

Background: Short- and long-term data showed that drug-eluting stents (DES) significantly decreased target vessel revascularization (TVR) and major adverse cardiac event (MACE) rates compared to bare-metal stents (BMS). However, conflicting long-term data remain for patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI).

Objective: Our aim was to assess the 6-year clinical outcome of all patients undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI) for a de novo lesion with exclusive use of BMS, sirolimus-eluting stents (SES) and paclitaxel-eluting stents (PES).

The unrestricted use of sirolimus- and paclitaxel-eluting stents results in better clinical outcomes during 6-year follow-up than bare-metal stents: an analysis of the RESEARCH (Rapamycin-Eluting Stent Evaluated At Rotterdam Cardiology Hospital) and T-SEARCH (Taxus-Stent Evaluated At Rotterdam Cardiology Hospital) registries.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the 6-year clinical outcome after unrestricted use of sirolimus-eluting stents (SES) or paclitaxel-eluting stents (PES) as compared with bare-metal stents (BMS) in consecutive de novo patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).

Background: SES and PES have been shown to significantly decrease target vessel revascularization (TVR) rates compared with BMS in "real-world" registries. However, possible higher rates of very-late stent thrombosis and a restenosis "catch-up" trend might jeopardize the benefit.