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Fever, abdominal pain, and liver dysfunction are almost inevitable complications of transcatheter arterial chemo embolization (TACE) for hepatocellular carcinoma, but these symptoms may also be due to bile duct obstruction caused by shedding of necrotic tumor material into the bile duct. A 68-year-old man presented with persistent fever, liver dysfunction, and abdominal pain after TACE. Computed tomography revealed stone-like hyperdensities in the bile duct. Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography revealed these structures to be necrotic material from hepatocellular carcinoma. We believe this is an instructive case of an often overlooked situation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Introduction: The number of colonoscopy (CS) for the elderly is increasing. There are only a few reports focusing on CS among the very elderly aged ≥ 90-y. We aimed to analyze the efficacy of CS and of colorectal cancer (CRC) for patients aged ≥ 90-y. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed consecutive patients aged ≥ 90-y receiving CS at eight institutions from October 2016 to September 2017. Bowel preparation, complications, and endoscopic diagnosis were analyzed. The non-elderly group aged between 50-y and 64-y and elderly group aged between 65-y and 79-y were compared to very-elderly group aged ≥ 90-y. Through propensity score matching of sex and CS indications (symptomatic or asymptomatic), the number of CRC and the treatment in each group were analyzed. Results: We analyzed 125 patients receiving 154 colonoscopies (0.9%) in the very-elderly group from among 16,968 cases. Among 92 cases who received bowel-cleansing solution, good preparations were achieved in 94.5%. The rate of CS-related complications was 1.3% (2/154). The rate of CRC in the very-elderly group was 27.2% (34/125), higher than the non-elderly group (7.2%, 9/125, p < 0.01) and elderly group (8.8%, 11/125, p < 0.01). Therapeutic interventions for CRC in the very-elderly group were performed in 73.5% (24/34) patients. The mean survival of 12 patients with CRC resection was 788 days. Conclusions: CS could be performed safely for the very elderly aged ≥ 90-y with careful considerations. CRC was confirmed to be more frequent in this group with over 70% of patients receiving appropriate therapeutic intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Backgrounds and Aims. Elobixibat is a bile acid transporter inhibitor indicated for constipation. Previous studies were performed mainly for the nonelderly and were biased to female. We analyzed the efficacy of elobixibat also for the elderly and male. Materials and Methods. This was a multicenter retrospective cohort study. The subjects were patients aged ≥20 years treated for chronic constipation from May 2018 to November 2019 at 12 related institutions. Patients were divided into ≤74 years and ≥75 years old. Elobixibat at 10 mg/day was prescribed for two weeks. We then analyzed the discontinuation due to ineffectiveness, change of spontaneous bowel movements (SBM), stool consistency, the time until the first SBM, adverse events, and effect-related factors. Results. There were 140 cases (61 males) evaluated, with an average age of 72.1 ± 13.6 years (≤74 years: 71 cases; ≥75 years: 69 cases). The discontinuation rate was 7.9%. The SBM (times/week) increased from 2.86 to 6.08 (p < 0.001). The overall SBM improvement rate was 74.0% (≤74 years: 78.2% vs. ≥75 years: 68.9%, p = 0.31 ; male: 75.0% vs. female: 73.3%, p = 0.78). The overall improvement rate of stool consistency was 59.6% (≤74 years: 62.9%, ≥75 years: 56.1%, p = 0.42). The time until the first SBM (hours) for those ≤74 years and ≥75 years was 17.2 ± 14.3 and 11.2 ± 8.4 (p = 0.04). Adverse event rates for those ≤74 years and ≥75 years were 28.2% and 10.1% (p < 0.01). There were no significant effect-related factors for gender, age, and use of laxatives. Conclusions. Short-period elobixibat is shown to be effective also for the elderly and male. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Backgrounds and Aims. Recently, direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) have become widely used for preventing thromboembolism. However, postoperative hemorrhage (POH) is a major complication associated with endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) for colorectal lesions. In this multicenter study, we analyzed the incidence of POH after EMR associated with DOACs and explored the associated risk factors. Materials and Methods. This study was a multicenter retrospective cohort study conducted at 8 Japanese institutions. A total of 2062 cases that underwent EMR for colorectal lesions at these 8 institutions from October 2016 to September 2017 were analyzed. The cases were divided into 4 groups: the DOAC group (63 cases), warfarin group (34 cases), antiplatelet group (185 cases), and no antithrombotics group (1780 cases). In all lesions of the DOAC and warfarin groups, endoscopic clipping was performed after EMR. The rate of POH in the DOAC group, patients' clinical characteristics, the risk factors of POH, and the rate of thromboembolism due to stopping DOACs were compared with other groups. Results. The rates of POH were 7.9% ∗ (5/63), 2.9% (1/34), 3.2% (6/185), and 0.6% ∗ ∗ (11/1780) in the DOAC, warfarin, antiplatelet, and no antithrombotics groups, respectively ( ∗ vs. ∗ ∗ , p < 0.001). Regarding risk factors, the tumor size with POH (mm) was significantly bigger than that without POH (16.2 ± 8.3 vs. 7.2 ± 4.9 , p < 0.001). There were no significant differences in the rates of POH based on the type of DOAC. In addition, no thromboembolisms occurred due to stopping of DOAC treatment. Conclusions. Patients receiving DOACs had significantly higher rates of POH after EMR than those without antithrombotics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A 47-year-old Japanese man was diagnosed with pancolitis-type ulcerative colitis. He was treated with mesalamine in a pH-dependent release form. On day 16 of administration, he was admitted because of fever and abdominal pain. We diagnosed his symptoms to be the side effects of mesalamine. Hyposensitization using unmodified and a time-dependent release form mesalamine was performed. On day 7 of mesalamine hyposensitization, a colonoscopy was performed. The patient presented with the same allergic symptoms 9 h after the administration of an oral sodium phosphate solution. Eventually, he was orally administered a course of salazosulfapyridine (SASP) at an initial dose of 2.5 mg/day, which was increased to 2000 mg/day. It is generally recognized that SASP intolerance is an indication to switch from SASP to mesalamine. The need to switch treatment from mesalamine to SASP is, therefore, rare because allergic reactions to mesalamine do not occur frequently. We report a very rare case which was presented with abdominal pain and myalgia because of intolerance to mesalamine in whom hyposensitization with and introduction of SASP were successful. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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1 Images show afferent loop dilatation with findings suggestive of recurrence of pancreatic cancer. a, b Abdominal computed tomography shows afferent loop dilatation and irregular wall thickening near the bile duct-jejunal anastomosis. c, d Small-bowel endoscopy and fluoroscopy show multiple stenoses due to direct tumor invasion. e Single-pigtail plastic stents (SPPSs) are inserted into the left and right hepatic ducts. f An SPPS is inserted into the dilated jejunum near the bile duct-jejunal anastomosis. g, h Endoscopy shows SPPSs placed to drain individual stenoses. Malignant afferent loop obstruction (mALO) is defined as duodenal or jejunal mechanical obstruction at the proximal anastomosis site of a gastrojejunostomy associated with locoregional tumor recurrence. [Extracted from the article]

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Introduction Multi-row detector computed tomography ( MDCT) and magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography ( MRCP) play an important role in the imaging diagnosis of hepatobiliary-pancreatic lesions. Here we investigated whether unifying the MDCT and MRCP images onto the same screen using fusion imaging could overcome the limitations of each technique, while still maintaining their benefits. Moreover, because reports of fusion imaging using MDCT and MRCP are rare, we assessed the benefits and limitations of this method for its potential application in a clinical setting. Methods The patient group included 9 men and 11 women. Among the 20 patients, the final diagnoses were as follows: 10 intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms, 5 biliary system carcinomas, 1 pancreatic adenocarcinoma and 5 non-neoplastic lesions. After transmitting the Digital Imaging and Communication in Medicine data of the MDCT and MRCP images to a workstation, we performed a 3- D organisation of both sets of images using volume rendering for the image fusion. Results Fusion imaging enabled clear identification of the spatial relationship between a hepatobiliary-pancreatic lesion and the solid viscera and/or vessels. Further, this method facilitated the determination of the relationship between the anatomical position of the lesion and its surroundings more easily than either MDCT or MRCP alone. Conclusion Fusion imaging is an easy technique to perform and may be a useful tool for planning treatment strategies and for examining pathological changes in hepatobiliary-pancreatic lesions. Additionally, the ease of obtaining the 3- D images suggests the possibility of using these images to plan intervention strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A 75-year-old man with general malaise and appetite loss was transferred to our hospital for assessment and treatment of liver failure. Laboratory findings on admission showed anemia, and gastroduodenoscopy (GDS) revealed linear esophageal varices and tensive duodenal varices (DV) in the second portion of the duodenum. Systemic examinations did not reveal any significant lesion capable of explaining his anemia, except for DV. Balloon-occluded retrograde transvenous obliteration was carried out to prevent DV bleeding. Good pooling of sclerosant was observed using two balloon catheters. However, contrast-enhanced computed tomography after the procedure revealed no thrombosis in DV, and the patient complained of tarry stools before additional therapy. Emergent GDS revealed ruptured DV with fresh blood and erosions on the surface. Emergent endoscopic obliteration using the tissue adhesive N-butyl-2-cyanoacrylate was carried out and complete hemostasis was achieved. Although no rebleeding episodes were observed after emergent obliteration, the patient died of sepsis following spontaneous bacterial peritonitis 53 days after admission. Autopsy revealed that DV dropped out, and the deep vein was replaced by granulation tissue. No signs of thrombi were detected, except varices. This autopsy case revealed the difficulty in DV management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A 68-year-old man with hemophilia A and liver cirrhosis caused by hepatitis C virus was referred to our hospital to receive prophylactic endoscopic treatment for gastroesophageal varices (GOV). He had large, tense, and winding esophageal varices (EV) with cherry red spots extending down to lesser curve, predicting the likelihood of bleeding. Esophageal endoscopic injection sclerotherapy (EIS) was performed with a total 15mL of 5% ethanolamine oleate with iopamidol (EOI). Radiographic imaging during EIS demonstrated that 5% EOI reached the afferent vein of the varices. He was administered sufficient factor VIII concentrate before and after EIS to prevent massive bleeding from the varices. Seven days after EIS, upper gastrointestinal endoscopy (UGIE) showed that the varices were eradicated almost completely. Eighteen months after EIS, the varices continued to diminish.We report a successful case of safe and effective EIS for GOV in a high-risk cirrhotic patient with hemophilia A. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a case study of 56-year-old Japanese man who has idiopathic portal hypertension (IPH). A computer tomography examination reveals occlusions of the portal vein stent and transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS). Tense and nodular esophagojejunal varices were also found out following an upper endoscopy. Meanwhile, the patient was treated through the employment of endoscopic injection sclerotherapy (EIS) with ethanolamine oleate with iopamidol.

To determine how T cells of thymic origin regulate the intestinal mucous response induced by nematode infection, mucin production and goblet cell-specific secretory peptide expression were examined in euthymic rnu/+ and athymic rnu/rnu rats infected with the nematode Nippostrongylus brasiliensis. Euthymic rats showed transient goblet cell hyperplasia and upregulation of mucin production, which returned to preinfection levels by 21 days postinfection, when nematodes had been rejected from the intestine. In athymic rats, which failed to reject nematodes, goblet cell hyperplasia and accelerated mucin production continued at least until 21 days postinfection. Gene transcription of mucin-core peptide (MUC)-2 and -3 and trefoil factor (TFF)-2 and -3 in the jejunal epithelium was upregulated parallel to the levels of goblet cell hyperplasia in both euthymic and athymic rats. On the other hand, resistin-like molecule (Relm)β, sialyltransferase Siat4c and sulfotransferase 3ST1 showed significantly higher transcription levels in euthymic than in athymic rats at 7 and/or 10 days postinfection. These results suggest that the induction of intestinal mucin production occurs without the activation of thymus-derived T cells, while the expression of Relmβ, Siat4c and 3ST1 in the intestinal epithelial cells seems to be regulated at least partly by thymus-dependent mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The article presents a case study of a 76-year-old man, who was admitted to our hospital for mid-thoracic pain and dysphagia. An endoscopy was conducted that revealed an ulcerated extrinsic mass compressing the mid-esophagus, covered by a whitish thrombus but with no active bleeding. The article discusses that aortoesophageal fistula (AEF) formation involves aortic disease with secondary rupture of a descending thoracic aortic aneurysm into the esophagus.