Severe Biliary Stricture Dilation Using the Soehendra Stent Retriever with a Short-Type Balloon Enteroscope in Patients with Surgically Altered Anatomies.

Background: Balloon enteroscopy (BE) can be used for endoscopic retrograde cholangiography (ERC) to treat biliary strictures in patients with surgically altered anatomies. However, biliary strictures, including bilioenteric anastomotic strictures, are often very severe and dilation catheters cannot pass through them. The Soehendra stent retriever (SSR) is like a screw drill and can be useful for dilating severe strictures, but the utility of SSR during BE-assisted ERC (BE-ERC) is unclear.

Impact of endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine-needle biopsy on the diagnosis of subepithelial tumors: A propensity score-matching analysis.

Background And Aim: Immunohistological evaluations are essential for diagnosing subepithelial tumors (SET). However, endoscopic ultrasound-guided sampling using fine-needle aspiration (FNA) needles is limited in its ability to procure core tissue for immunostaining. Fine-needle biopsy (FNB) needles may mitigate this limitation.

Assessing the diagnostic yield of controllable biopsy-forceps for biliary strictures.

Objective: Biliary forceps biopsies are essential for differentially diagnosing biliary strictures and evaluating the preoperative superficial intraductal spread of bile duct cancers; however, these biopsies are technically demanding and time consuming. Using controllable biopsy-forceps (C-BF), which enable the tip's angle to be adjusted by up to 90°, may facilitate the procedure and improve the diagnostic yield for biliary biopsies. This study aimed to examine the efficacy of C-BF associated with the diagnosis of biliary strictures.

Hemothorax following Uncomplicated Endoscopic Variceal Sclerotherapy and Ligation for Esophageal Varices.

Endoscopic variceal sclerotherapy and ligation are standard treatment modalities used for the management of esophageal varices. Reportedly, sclerotherapy and ligation are associated with complications such as hematuria, pulmonary thrombus formation, pleural effusion, renal dysfunction, and esophageal stenosis. However, hemothorax following sclerotherapy and ligation has not yet been reported.

Simultaneous Versus Sequential Side-by-Side Bilateral Metal Stent Placement for Malignant Hilar Biliary Obstructions.

Background: Endoscopic bilateral self-expandable metallic stent (SEMS) placement for malignant hilar biliary obstructions (MHBOs) is technically demanding, and a second SEMS insertion is particularly challenging. A simultaneous side-by-side (SBS) placement technique using a thinner delivery system may mitigate these issues.

Aims: We aimed to examine the feasibility and efficacy of simultaneous SBS SEMS placement for treating MHBOs using a novel SEMS that has a 5.

Influence of nicotine on choline-deficient, L-amino acid-defined diet-induced non-alcoholic steatohepatitis in rats.

Nicotine, a major compound in cigarette smoke, decreases food intake and body weight gain in mammals; however, the influence of nicotine on the progression of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) remains controversial. This study aimed to investigate the effect of nicotine on NASH in rat models. Male Wistar rats were fed choline-deficient, l-amino acid-defined (CDAA) diet and treated with nicotine or saline.

A Case of Gastric Antral Vascular Ectasia Which Was Aggravated by Acid Reducer.

Gastric antral vascular ectasia (GAVE) is known to be characterized by red patches or spots in a diffuse or linear array in the antrum of the stomach. The precise etiology of GAVE remains to be elucidated. Argon plasma laser coagulation (APC) has been used to control oozing from GAVE; however, there is no satisfactory long-term effect of APC in the control of oozing from GAVE.

Conophylline inhibits non-alcoholic steatohepatitis in mice.

Conophylline (CnP), a vinca alkaloid extracted from the leaves of the tropical plant Ervatamia microphylla, attenuates hepatic fibrosis in mice. However, little is known about whether CnP inhibits steatosis, inflammation, and fibrosis in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) in mice. A methionine-choline-deficient (MCD) diet was administered to male db/db mice as a NASH model, and CnP (1 μg/kg/d) was co-administered.

Ezetimibe for the treatment of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: A meta-analysis.

Aim: Several studies on the efficacy of ezetimibe, a potent inhibitor of cholesterol absorption, in treating non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) have been published; however, the results are inconsistent. We undertook a meta-analysis to evaluate the efficacy of ezetimibe in treating NAFLD and NASH.

Methods: PubMed, Medline, and Cochrane Library Full Text Database were searched until June 2016.

Δ40p53α suppresses tumor cell proliferation and induces cellular senescence in hepatocellular carcinoma cells.

Splice variants of certain genes impact on genetic biodiversity in mammals. The tumor suppressor TP53 gene (encoding p53) plays an important role in the regulation of tumorigenesis in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Δ40p53α is a naturally occurring p53 isoform that lacks the N-terminal transactivation domain, yet little is known about the role of Δ40p53α in the development of HCC.

Associations between polymorphisms in folate-metabolizing genes and pancreatic cancer risk in Japanese subjects.

Background: Evidence supporting the associations between folate metabolizing gene polymorphisms and pancreatic cancer has been inconclusive. We examined their associations in a case-control study of Japanese subjects.

Methods: Our case-control study involved 360 newly diagnosed pancreatic cancer cases and 400 frequency-matched, non-cancer control subjects.

Bleeding risk of endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration in patients undergoing antithrombotic therapy.

Objectives: Bleeding events related to endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) are rare. However, for patients treated with antithrombotic agents, the bleeding risk of EUS-FNA is uncertain. Hence, the aim of this study was to assess the bleeding event rate associated with EUS-FNA in patients receiving antithrombotic treatment.

Feasibility of the placement of a novel 6-mm diameter threaded fully covered self-expandable metal stent for malignant hilar biliary obstructions (with videos).

Background And Aims: Uncovered self-expandable metal stents (USEMSs) are used to treat unresectable malignant hilar biliary obstructions (MHBOs). However, ingrowth is not prevented, and reintervention is often troublesome. A novel 6-mm threaded fully covered self-expandable metal stent (T-FCSEMS) is available that may mitigate these issues.

Glucagon-like peptide-1 analogue prevents nonalcoholic steatohepatitis in non-obese mice.

Aim: To investigate whether a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) analogue inhibits nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), which is being increasingly recognized in Asia, in non-obese mice.

Methods: A methionine-choline-deficient diet (MCD) along with exendin-4 (20 μg/kg per day, ip), a GLP-1 analogue, or saline was administered to male db/db mice (non-obese NASH model). Four or eight weeks after commencement of the diet, the mice were sacrificed and their livers were excised.

[Endoscopic ultrasound-guided cystogastrostomy for successful drainage of pancreatic pseudocyst: a pediatric case report].

A 15-year-old boy was admitted to our hospital with a recent increase in the size of a preexisting pancreatic pseudocyst. At 11 years of age, he was diagnosed with acute lymphoid leukemia (ALL) and received chemotherapy with L-asparaginase (L-Asp); he developed the pancreatic pseudocyst following L-Asp-induced acute pancreatitis. The pancreatic pseudocyst had increased to 120mm in diameter.

Vitamin E has a beneficial effect on nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

Objectives: Vitamin E is often used in the treatment of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), including nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH); however, the magnitude of treatment response associated with vitamin E in improving liver function and histology in NAFLD/NASH has not, to our knowledge, been quantified systematically. Thus, we conducted a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) using vitamin E in the treatment of NAFLD/NASH.

Methods: PubMed, Medline, and Cochrane Library Full Text Database, and Japan Medical-Literature Database (Igaku Chuo Zasshi) were searched until March 2014, and five RCTs were identified for meta-analysis.

Diagnostic accuracy of real-time tissue elastography for the staging of liver fibrosis: a meta-analysis.

Objective: To evaluate the overall accuracy of real-time tissue elastography (RTE) for the staging of liver fibrosis.

Methods: We systematically reviewed 15 studies (1,626 subjects) in which sensitivity and specificity of RTE for liver fibrosis are available. For each cut-off stage of fibrosis, i.

Case of cholangiocellular carcinoma in a patient with glycogen storage disease type Ia.

Glycogen storage disease (GSD) type Ia is caused by a deficiency in glucose-6-phosphatase. Long-term complications, including renal disease, gout, osteoporosis and pulmonary hypertension, develop in patients with GSD type Ia. In the second or third decade, 22-75% of GSD type Ia patients develop hepatocellular adenoma (HCA).