Endoscopy, Digestive System ; Esophageal and Gastric Varices ; complications ; drug therapy ; surgery ; therapy ; Fibrosis ; complications ; Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage ; drug therapy ; etiology ; surgery ; therapy ; Humans ; Hypertension, Portal ; drug therapy ; etiology ; surgery ; therapy

BACKGROUNDGastric varices (GV) are life-threatening for patients with portal hypertension. Endoscopic injection with butyl cyanoacrylate (BC), the mainstay of the therapy for GV, has been reported to be effective for hemostasis of bleeding varices, but its efficacy in the obliteration of GV and impact on the survival of patients still needs clarification. Here we summarized our experience of 10 years' practice to evaluate the efficacy and safety of endoscopic therapy using BC for GV patients.

METHODSFrom January 1997 to April 2006, GV cases treated with endoscopic injection using BC were collected. The "sandwich method" and the "modified sandwich method" were used to inject BC intravascularly. Retrograde analysis was made on the data of treatment and follow-up.

RESULTSA total of 635 GV cases treated with endoscopic injection using BC were collected, most of them (90.2%) suffered from post-hepatitis cirrhosis. Emergency hemostasis was achieved in 139 out of 146 sessions (95.2%). Complications occurred in 32 cases (5.2%), including hemorrhage due to early expulsion of tissue glue (3.1%), septicemia (1%) and ectopic thrombosis (0.5%), such as spleen infarction. Endoscopic follow-up in 503 patients showed complete disappearance (76.9%), collapse (17.3%) or remnants (5.8%) of gastric varices. A total of 550 patients were followed up clinically for 3 to 115 months. Of these patients, 44 had recurrent bleeding (8.0%) and 44 died from hepatic failure, recurrent bleeding, hepatic carcinoma or other causes. The longest survival was 115 months, with a median survival of 25 months. Survival rates at 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 year were 95%, 92%, 90%, 83% and 81%, respectively.

CONCLUSIONSEndoscopic sclerotherapy with BC is effective for the hemostasis of bleeding GV, as well as obliteration of GV which contributes to less rebleeding and better survival. The modified sandwich method may be useful to minimize ectopic embolism, which we speculated to result from excess iodized oil.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Child ; Enbucrilate ; therapeutic use ; Endoscopy, Gastrointestinal ; methods ; Esophageal and Gastric Varices ; mortality ; therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Sclerotherapy ; adverse effects ; methods ; Tissue Adhesives ; therapeutic use

OBJECTIVETo identify the factors that affect the safety and efficacy of peroral endoscopic myotomy (POEM) for treatment of achalasia.

METHODSData of consecutive patients undergoing POEM for confirmed achalasia between December, 2010 and December, 2015 were collected, including the procedure time, approach of tunnel entry incision, approach of myotomy, complications and follow-up data.

RESULTSAmong the total of 439 patients enrolled, the overall complication rate was 28.7% (126/439). Treatment success (Eckardt score≤3) was achieved in 94.5% of 364 patients followed up for a median of 6 months (1-48 months), and the mean score was reduced significantly from 6.7∓1.5 before treatment to 1.2∓1.1 after the treatment (P<0.05). Logistic regression revealed that the year when POEM was performed and the approach of entry incision were two significant factors contributing to complications: with the year 2015 as the reference, the odds ratio (OR) was 9.454 (95% CI: 2.499-35.76) for the years before 2011, 2.177 (95% CI: 0.794-5.974) for 2012, 3.975 (95% CI: 1.904-8.298) for 2013, and 1.079 (95% CI: 0.601-1.940) for 2014; with the longitudinal entry incision as the reference, the OR was 0.369 (95% CI: 0.165-0.824) for inverted T entry incision and 0.456 (95% CI: 0.242-0.859) for transverse entry incision. The approach of myotomy was the significantly associated with symptomatic relapse: with full-thickness myotomy combined with indwelling an anti-reflux belt as the reference, the OR was 0.363 (95% CI: 0.059-2.250) for gradual full-thickness myotomy, 2.137 (95% CI: 0.440-10.378) for circular muscle myotomy, and 4.385 (95% CI: 0.820-23.438) for circular muscle myotomy in combination with balloon shaping; the recurrence rate was 0 with a full-thickness myotomy.

CONCLUSIONThe complication rates of POEM appears to decrease over time, and an inverted T entry incision is the best choice for controlling the complications. Gradual full-thickness myotomy is an excellent approach for treatment of achalasia in terms of the relapse rate, procedure time and the incidence of reflux esophagitis.

Endoscopy ; Esophageal Achalasia ; surgery ; Esophagitis, Peptic ; surgery ; Gastroesophageal Reflux ; Humans ; Muscles ; surgery ; Recurrence ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVETo explore the effectiveness and safety of endoscopic transgastric or transpapillary drainage in treating pancreatic pseudocysts.

METHODSThe clinical data of 15 patients with pancreatic pseudocyst who underwent endoscopic ultrasound-guided transgastric or transpapillary drainage in the Chinese PLA General Hospital between June 2004 and February 2013 were retrospectively analyzed. Also, we reviewed the relevant Chinese literature in the China Academic Journal Network Publishing Database (from 1994 to 2012) and VIP China Science and Technology Journal Database (from 1989 to 2012) using the key words "pancreatic pseudocyst and drainage". Five literatures including 103 cases were enrolled.

RESULTSThe data of 118 cases undergoing endoscopic drainage, included 94 cases with transgastric approach and 24 with transpapillary approach, entered the final analysis. The success rate was 94.9%, and cysts completely disappeared in 83.9% of the patients. The overall incidence of complications (bleeding, infection, and stent clogging or migration) was 19.5%. One patient lost to follow-up and only one case of recurrence was noted.

CONCLUSIONEndoscopic transgastric or transpapillary drainage is safe and effective in treating the pancreatic pseudocysts and therefore can be a preferred therapeutic approach.

Adult ; Drainage ; methods ; Endosonography ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pancreatic Pseudocyst ; therapy ; Treatment Outcome

BACKGROUND: With the wide application of endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) for early gastric neoplasms, metachronous gastric neoplasms (MGN) have gradually become a concern. This study aimed to analyze the characteristics of MGN and evaluate the treatment and follow-up outcomes of MGN patients. METHODS: A total of 814 patients were retrospectively enrolled. All these patients were treated by ESD for early gastric cancer or gastric dysplasia between November 2006 and September 2019 at The First Medical Center of Chinese People's Liberation Army General Hospital. The risk factors for MGN were analyzed using Cox hazard proportional model. Moreover, the cumulative incidence, the correlation of initial lesions and MGN lesions, and the treatment and follow-up outcomes of MGN patients were analyzed. RESULTS: A total of 4.5% (37/814) of patients had MGN after curative ESD. The 3-, 5-, and 7-year cumulative incidences of MGN were 3.5%, 5.1%, and 6.9%, respectively, and ultimately reaching a plateau of 11.3% at 99 months after ESD. There was no significant correlation between initial lesions and MGN lesions in terms of gross type (P = 0.178), location (long axis: P = 0.470; short axis: P = 0.125), and histological type (P = 0.832). Cox multivariable analysis found that initial multiplicity was the only independent risk factor of MGN (hazard ratio: 4.3, 95% confidence interval: 2.0-9.4, P < 0.001). Seventy-three percent of patients with MGN were treated by endoscopic resection. During follow-up, two patients with MGN died of gastric cancer with lymph node metastasis. The disease-specific survival rate was significantly lower in patients with MGN than that in patients without MGN (94.6% vs. 99.6%, P = 0.006). CONCLUSIONS The MGN rate gradually increased with follow-up time within 99 months after curative gastric ESD. Thus, regular and long-term surveillance endoscopy may be helpful, especially for patients with initial multiple neoplasms.
Endoscopic Mucosal Resection ; Gastric Mucosa/surgery* ; Humans ; Neoplasms, Second Primary/surgery* ; Retrospective Studies ; Stomach Neoplasms/surgery* ; Treatment Outcome

Objective To analyze the clinical and magnetic resonance imaging(MRI)findings of solid pseudopapillary tumor(SPT)of the pancreas in male patients. Methods Clinical and MRI features of 51 patients with pathologically-proved SPT were retrospectively analyzed.The following MRI features of the lesions were analyzed:location,maximal diameter,shape,margin,capsule,solid and cystic components,signal intensity characteristics,and enhancement patterns.Results The average maximal diameter of the SPT in male patients was significantly smaller [(3.9±1.6)cm vs.(6.3±3.9)cm,P=0.035]than that of SPT in female patients.Pure solid tumors were signiciantly more common in male patients(8/14)than in female patients(9/37)(P=0.037).T-weighted images of SPT showed mainly homogenous hypo-intensity in male patients(11/14)and heterogeneous hypo-intensity in female patients(23/37)(P=0.001).Hemorrhage was more prevalent in female patients(22/37)than in male patients(2/14)(P=0.005).There were no significant differences between male and female patients regarding clinical features and other magnetic resonance features(P>0.05).Conclusions On MRI,SPT in male patients is small and shows mainly pure solid component with rare hemorrhage.The clinical and other MRI features of SPT are not different between males and females.

The high incidence of chronic liver disease is a serious threat to public health, and the current comprehensive internal medicine treatment is ineffective. Liver transplantation is limited by the shortage of liver source and post-transplant rejection, and thus unmet the clinical needs. More importantly, cell therapy shows great promise for the treatment of chronic liver disease. Over recent years, domestic and foreign scholars have carried out a variety of cell therapy preclinical and clinical trials for critical liver disease, and achieved certain results, providing new methods for the treatment of chronic liver diseases. This review discusses the cell therapy research status and application progress, various existing problems and challenges, and key issues of mesenchymal stem cells in the treatment of chronic liver diseases.
Cell- and Tissue-Based Therapy ; Humans ; Liver Diseases/therapy* ; Liver Transplantation/methods* ; Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transplantation ; Mesenchymal Stem Cells