Digital single-operator cholangioscopy in treating difficult biliary stones: results from a multicenter experience.

Background: In clinical practice, standard endoscopic treatment of biliary stones fails in up to 10% of patients, and more invasive procedures such as percutaneous trans-hepatic interventions or surgery might become necessary. The aim of this multicenter retrospective study, based on prospectively-collected data, was to evaluate both the efficacy and the safety of digital-single operator cholangioscopy (D-SOC) to treat difficult biliary stones in cases with a previous failure of conventional endoscopic methods.

Methods: Only patients with a previous failure of endoscopic standard treatment and a D-SOC-based biliary stone treatment using electrohydraulic lithotripsy (EHL) or laser lithotripsy (LL) were included.

Insulin-like growth factor-II is a useful marker to detect hepatocellular carcinoma?

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a typical hypervascular tumor. The utility of serum alpha-fetoprotein (α-FP) in its detection is questionable. Over-expression and high circulating levels of insulin-like growth factor-II (IGF-II) were reported in tissue and in serum of patients with HCC.

High serum resistin in chronic viral hepatitis is not a marker of metabolic disorder.

Background/aims: The role of resistin, an adipocyte-secreted hormone, in insulin resistance and in inflammation is controversial. In chronic hepatitis C, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes and liver steatosis are frequent and inconsistently correlated to circulating resistin levels. In this study we assessed if viral aetiology and host metabolic parameters influence serum resistin in patients with HCV- and HBV- related chronic hepatitis.