Joon Hyuk Choi

Long-term outcomes after endoscopic ultrasonography-guided gallbladder drainage for acute cholecystitis

BACKGROUND AND STUDY AIM Endoscopic ultrasonography-guided transmural gallbladder drainage (EUS-GBD) has been proposed for the management of acute cholecystitis in high risk patients; however, little is known about the long-term outcomes of this treatment. The aim of this study was to evaluate the procedural and long-term outcomes of EUS-GBD with self-expandable metallic stent (SEMS). PATIENTS AND METHODS Data for this retrospective study were obtained from a prospectively collected EUS database. Patients with acute cholecystitis who were deemed unsuitable for cholecystectomy were included. Study outcomes were technical and clinical success, adverse events, and stent patency. RESULTS EUS-GBD was technically and clinically successful in 62/63 patients (98.4 %; 95 % confidence interval [CI] 94.9 % - 100 %). Procedural adverse events included duodenal perforation (n = 1, 1.6 %) and self-limiting pneumoperitoneum (n = 2, 3.2 %), all of which resolved with conservative treatment. Long-term outcomes of EUS-GBD were evaluated in 56 patients who were followed for a median of 275 days (range 40 - 1185 days). Late adverse events developed in four patients (7.1 %; 95 %CI 5.7 % - 8.4 %), including asymptomatic distal stent migration (n = 2), and acute cholecystitis due to stent occlusion (n = 2). Two patients with occluded stent were successfully treated endoscopically (reintervention rate of 3.6 %). A total of 54 patients (96.4 %) had no recurrence of acute cholecystitis during follow-up. Median stent patency time was 190 days overall (range 15 - 1185 days) and 458 days (range 151 - 1185 days) for the 28 patients who were alive at the study end. The cumulative stent patency rate was 86 % at 3 years. CONCLUSIONS EUS-GBD with an SEMS for acute cholecystitis showed excellent long-term outcomes and may be a definitive treatment in patients who are unsuitable for cholecystectomy because of advanced malignancy or high surgical risk.

Utility of contrast-enhanced harmonic EUS in the diagnosis of malignant gallbladder polyps (with videos)

BACKGROUND The differential diagnosis between benign and malignant polyps of the gallbladder (GB) is often challenging. OBJECTIVES To evaluate whether contrast-enhanced harmonic EUS (CEH-EUS) might be an accurate method for discriminating malignant GB polyps from benign polyps. DESIGN Observational study. SETTING Tertiary care medical center. PATIENTS Ninety-three patients with GB polyps larger than 10 mm in diameter that were detected by conventional EUS underwent CEH-EUS for evaluation of microvasculature. INTERVENTION CEH-EUS was performed using a radial echoendoscope and the extended pure harmonic detection mode. MAIN OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS The abilities of conventional EUS and CEH-EUS to diagnose malignant polyp were compared. Two blinded reviewers classified the perfusion images into 3 categories: diffuse enhancement, perfusion defect, or nonenhancement. The vessel images were categorized as having a regular spotty vessel, an irregular vessel, or no vessels. RESULTS An irregular vessel pattern determined by CEH-EUS aided in the diagnosis of malignant polyps with a sensitivity and specificity of 90.3% and 96.6%, respectively. The presence of perfusion defects, determined by CEH-EUS, was calculated to diagnose malignant polyps with a sensitivity and specificity of 90.3% and 94.9%, respectively. Based on the definitely determined diagnosis, sensitivity and specificity for CEH-EUS were 93.5% and 93.2% versus 90.0% and 91.1% for conventional EUS. In 8 cases, management changed after CEH-EUS. LIMITATIONS A tertiary medical center with a limited number of patients. CONCLUSIONS The presence of irregular intratumoral vessels or perfusion defects seen on CEH-EUS may be sensitive and accurate predictors of malignant GB polyps. CEH-EUS offers slightly improved diagnostic accuracy compared with EUS.

Simplified fistula dilation technique and modified stent deployment maneuver for EUS-guided hepaticogastrostomy

AIM To evaluate the success rates, procedural time and adverse event rates of the modified methods in endoscopic ultrasonography-guided hepaticogastrostomy (EUS-HGS). METHODS Twenty-eight patients in a prospective case series who underwent EUS-HGS (phase I). Forty-six patients in a matched case-control study (phase II). The simplified technique for fistula dilation was the primary use of a 4 mm balloon catheter with a stainless steel stylet. The stent deployment was modified by deploying the metal stent inside a bile duct (half of the stent) under EUS and fluoroscopic guidance and gently pulling the echoendoscope after full deployment of the stent inside the echoendoscope channel (remaining portion of the stent) under fluoroscopic guidance. This cohort was compared with a matched historical cohort. RESULTS In phase I, the technical and clinical success with the modified method was 96% (27/28) and 89% (24/27 as per-protocol analysis). The overall adverse event rate was 7%. In phase II, there was no difference in technical and clinical success, stent patency and overall adverse events in each group. However, the procedural time (15.3 ± 5.2 min vs 22.3 ± 6.0 min, P < 0.001) and early adverse events (0% vs 26%, P = 0.02) were statistically improved in case cohort compared with control cohort. CONCLUSION Compared with the conventional EUS-HGS technique, the procedural time was shorter and early adverse events were less frequent with our simplified and modified technique.

Expanding indication: EUS-guided hepaticoduodenostomy for isolated right intrahepatic duct obstruction (with video)

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Hepatic Arterial Infusion Chemotherapy Using the Port System in Advanced Gallbladder Cancer

Gallbladder (GB) cancer is relatively rare and has a poor prognosis, with a median survival time of less than 3 months. It is resistant to chemotherapy. Therefore, the role of systemic chemotherapy is limited. However, administering the anticancer agent directly into the hepatic artery can result in a higher drug concentration in the cancer tissue. In this paper, we report a case of advanced GB cancer treated with hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy (HAIC) using the port system. The patient received six cycles of HAIC with 5-fluorouracil (750 mg/㎡) and cisplatin (25 mg/㎡); each cycle lasted for 4 days every month. The tumor showed objective response during HAIC, and the patient survived for 15 months from the first therapy. HAIC using the port system might be a promising therapeutic modality for treating locally advanced GB cancer. (Korean J Med 2018;93:50-54)