Ab Elfant

Houston Consensus Conference on Testing for Helicobacter pylori Infection in the United States

&NA; Despite guidelines for detection and treatment of Helicobacter pylori infection, recommendations to test patients before and after therapy are commonly not followed in the United States. At the Houston Consensus Conference, 11 experts on management of adult and pediatric patients with H pylori, from different geographic regions of the United States, met to discuss key factors in diagnosis of H pylori infection, including identification of appropriate patients for testing, effects of antibiotic susceptibility on testing and treatment, appropriate methods for confirmation of infection and eradication, and relevant health system considerations. The experts divided into groups that used a modified Delphi panel approach to assess appropriate patients for testing, testing for antibiotic susceptibility and treatment, and test methods and confirmation of eradication. The quality of evidence and strength of recommendations were evaluated using the GRADE system. The results of the individual workshops were presented for a final consensus vote by all panel members. After the Expert Consensus Development meeting, the conclusions were validated by a separate panel of gastroenterologists, who assessed their level of agreement with each of the 29 statements developed at the Expert Consensus Development. The final recommendations are provided, on the basis of the best available evidence, and provide consensus statements with supporting literature to implement testing for H pylori infection at health care systems across the United States.

Safety and efficacy of minimal biliary sphincterotomy with papillary balloon dilation (m-EBS+EPBD) in patients using clopidogrel or anticoagulation

Background and study aims Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) with endoscopic biliary sphincterotomy (EBS) or endoscopic papillary balloon dilation (EPBD) are common techniques of biliary decompression. Potential risks include gastrointestinal hemorrhage, which can be increased by antiplatelet agents, anticoagulants (AC) and/or novel oral anticoagulants (NOACs) (ie. apixaban, dabigatran and rivaroxaban). The study aim is to evaluate the safety/efficacy of an alternative technique, minimal-EBS plus EPBD (m-EBS + EPBD), in individuals for whom clopidogrel, AC, and/or NOACs cannot be interrupted due to high cardiovascular or thromboembolic risk. Patients and methods Patients undergoing m-EBS + EPBD while taking clopidogrel and/or AC were retrospectively evaluated at two United States tertiary care centers for efficacy, GIB and procedure-related, cardiovascular and thromboembolic adverse events (AE). Results Ninety-five patients were identified [55 = clopidogrel and 45 = AC (31.1 % NOACs)]. The main indication for ERCP was choledocholithiasis (34 %). 100 % clinical improvement and 97.9 % endoscopic success were found. The incidence of AE was 5.3 %. There was a 4.2 % incidence of gastrointestinal hemorrhage (2 cases requiring endoscopic intervention). Both severe gastrointestinal hemorrhages also experienced the cases of post-ERCP pancreatitis, and 2 /3 of cholangitis (all aspirin + AC). There was 1cardiovascular event (non-ST elevation myocardial infarction), and no thromboembolic events. Conclusions Minimal-EBS + EPBD is an effective and safe therapy with an incidence of gastrointestinal hemorrhage of 4.2 %, (2.1 % requiring endoscopic intervention), for patients on clopidogrel and/or AC, with a high risk for cardiovascular/thromboembolic events.

A genetic database can be utilized to identify potential biomarkers for biphenotypic hepatocellular carcinoma-cholangiocarcinoma

BACKGROUND Biphenotypic hepatocellular carcinoma-cholangiocarcinoma (HCC-CC) is an uncommon primary liver neoplasm. Due to limitations in radiologic imaging for the diagnosis of this condition, biopsy is a common method for diagnosis, which is invasive and holds potential complications. To identify alternative means for obtaining the diagnosis and assessing the prognosis of this condition, we evaluated biomarkers for biphenotypic HCC-CC using a genetic database. METHODS To evaluate the genetic associations with each variable we utilized GeneCards(®), The Human Gene Compendium (http://www.genecards.org). The results of our search were entered into the Pathway Interaction Database from the National Cancer Institute (PID-NCI) (http://pid.nci.nih.gov), to generate a biomolecule interaction map. RESULTS The results of our query yielded 690 genes for HCC, 98 genes for CC and 50 genes for HCC-CC. Genes depicted in this analysis demonstrate the role of hormonal regulation, embryonic development, cell surface adhesion, cytokeratin stability, mucin production, metalloproteinase regulation, Ras signaling, metabolism and apoptosis. Examples of previously described markers included hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), mesenchymal epithelial transition (MET) and Kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene homolog (KRAS). Novel markers included phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate 3-kinase, catalytic subunit alpha (PIK3CA), GPC3, choline kinase alpha (CHKA), prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase 2 (PTGS2), telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT), myeloid cell leukemia 1 (MCL1) and N-acetyltransferase 2 (NAT2). CONCLUSIONS GeneCards is a useful research tool in the genetic analysis of low frequency malignancies. Utilizing this tool we identified several biomarkers are methods for diagnosing HCC-CC. Finally, utilizing these methods, HCC-CC was found to be predominantly a subtype of CC.