Role of endoscopic ultrasonography in patients with intermediate probability of choledocholithiasis but a negative CT scan.

Background/goals: Despite the increased role of endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) in diagnosis, few studies have evaluated its impact on the management of choledocholithiasis in a clinical setting for patients for whom computed tomography (CT) was conducted initially. Our aim in this study was to evaluate the role of EUS in patients with a diagnosis of intermediate probability of choledocholithiasis with a negative CT scan result.

Study: A total of 98 patients who were diagnosed with symptomatic cholelithiasis with intermediate probability of choledocholithiasis were evaluated prospectively.

Photodynamic therapy for bile duct invasion of hepatocellular carcinoma.

The prognosis of patients with obstructive jaundice caused by hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is dismal, because effective biliary drainage is difficult due to frequent malfunction of the drainage tube caused by hemobilia and/or tumor emboli. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) improves biliary patency and prolongs survival in hilar cholangiocarcinoma. The aim of this study was to assess the safety and efficacy of PDT in unresectable HCC with bile duct invasion.

A huge mediastinal organizing hematoma causing reversal of atrial septal defect shunt flow.

We report a case of a 46-year-old woman who presented with subacute exertional dyspnea and severe hypoxia. A large cystic mass compressing the right side of the heart along with right-to-left atrial shunt flow through an alleged atrial septal defect (ASD) were detected on echocardiography. CT scan of the chest and MRI of the heart revealed a loculated cystic mediastinal mass with hemorrhage measuring 5.

Cytomegalovirus colitis in patients without inflammatory bowel disease: a single center study.

Objective: Cytomegalovirus (CMV) aggravates preexisting inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and there are numerous reports of CMV colitis in IBD patients. However, little attention has been paid to CMV colitis in non-IBD patients. The aim was to determine the clinical manifestations, endoscopic appearance, and clinical course of CMV colitis in non-IBD patients.