Adult bile duct strictures: differentiating benign biliary stenosis from cholangiocarcinoma

Biliary epithelial cells preferentially respond to various insults under chronic pathological conditions leading to reactively atypical changes, hyperplasia, or the development of biliary neoplasms (such as biliary intraepithelial neoplasia, intraductal papillary neoplasm of the bile duct, and cholangiocarcinoma). Moreover, benign biliary strictures can be caused by a variety of disorders (such as IgG4-related sclerosing cholangitis, eosinophilic cholangitis, and follicular cholangitis) and often mimic malignancies, despite their benign nature. In addition, primary sclerosing cholangitis is a well-characterized precursor lesion of cholangiocarcinoma and many other chronic inflammatory disorders increase the risk of malignancies. Because of these factors and the changes in biliary epithelial cells, biliary strictures frequently pose a diagnostic challenge. Although the ability to differentiate neoplastic from non-neoplastic biliary strictures has markedly progressed with the advance in radiological modalities, brush cytology and bile duct biopsy examination remains effective. However, no single modality is adequate to diagnose benign biliary strictures because of the low sensitivity. Therefore, understanding the underlying causes by compiling the entire clinical, laboratory, and imaging data; considering the under-recognized causes; and collaborating between experts in various fields including cytopathologists with multiple approaches is necessary to achieve an accurate diagnosis. © 2016 The Japanese Society for Clinical Molecular MorphologyEmbargo Period 12 month

New Orchids (Orchidaceae: Epidendroideae and Vandoideae) in the Flora of Vietnam

The paper continues our recent publication of new original data on orchid diversity in Vietnam (Averyanov et al., 2018a-c) obtained in 2016–2017. It includes data on 5 orchid species new for science (Calanthe nguyenthinhii Aver., Dendrobium truongcuongii Aver. et Canh, Gastrodia khangii Aver., Nephelaphyllum thaovyae Aver. et Canh and Podochilus truongtamii Aver. et Vuong) and 15 species, new for the flora of Vietnam (Calanthe ceciliae, Dendrobium eriiflorum, D. griffithianum, D. hekouense, D. minusculum, D. stuposum, D. xichouense, Eria lancifolia, E. xanthocheila, Geodorum terrestre, Liparis condylobulbon, L. tenuis, Luisia teres, Pomatocalpa maculosum, Porpax ustulata). Annotated species list includes the valid name, synonyms, type, citations of relevant taxonomic regional publications, data on ecology, phenology and distribution, estimated IUCN Red List status, studied specimens, brief taxonomic notes, and illustrations for each recorded species. Lectotypes for two species, Liparis tenuis, and Dendrobium exsculptum are proposed. When the new data presented in this paper are included, the documented orchid flora of Vietnam reaches at least 1243 species

Causes and Clinical Characteristics of Small Bowel Bleeding in Northern Vietnam

Aim. Causes, clinical features, and diagnostic approaches for small bowel (SB) bleeding were analyzed to derive recommendations in dealing with this clinical condition. Methods. We included 54 patients undergoing surgical treatment for SB bleeding, from January 2009 to December 2019. Detailed clinical data, diagnosis procedures, and causes of bleeding were collected. Results. Among 54 cases with SB bleeding, the most common causes were tumors (64.8%), followed by angiopathy (14.8%), ulcers (9.3%), diverticula (5.6%), tuberculosis (3.7%), and enteritis (1.9%). Most tumors (32/35 cases, 91.4%) and vascular lesions (8/8 cases, 100%) were located in the jejunum. The incidence of tumors was higher in the older (30/41 cases, 73.1%) than that in patients younger than 40 years of age (5/13 cases, 38.5%, P<0.01). Common initial findings were melena (68.5%) and hematochezia (31.5%). The overall diagnostic yield of computed tomographic enterography (CTE) was 57.4% (31/54 cases), with the figures for tumors, vascular lesions, and inflammatory lesions being 71.4% (25/35 cases), 62.5% (5/8 cases), and 12.5% (1/8 cases), respectively. Double-balloon enteroscopy (DBE) definitively identified SB bleeding sources in 16/22 (72.7%) patients. Conclusion. Tumors, angiopathy, ulcers, and diverticula were the most common causes of SB bleeding in Northern Vietnamese population. CTE has a high detection rate for tumors in patients with SB bleeding. CTE as a triage tool may identify patients before double-balloon enteroscopy because of the high prevalence of SB tumors

Deep learning-based phenotyping reclassifies combined hepatocellular-cholangiocarcinoma

International audienceAbstract Primary liver cancer arises either from hepatocytic or biliary lineage cells, giving rise to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) or intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICCA). Combined hepatocellular- cholangiocarcinomas (cHCC-CCA) exhibit equivocal or mixed features of both, causing diagnostic uncertainty and difficulty in determining proper management. Here, we perform a comprehensive deep learning-based phenotyping of multiple cohorts of patients. We show that deep learning can reproduce the diagnosis of HCC vs. CCA with a high performance. We analyze a series of 405 cHCC-CCA patients and demonstrate that the model can reclassify the tumors as HCC or ICCA, and that the predictions are consistent with clinical outcomes, genetic alterations and in situ spatial gene expression profiling. This type of approach could improve treatment decisions and ultimately clinical outcome for patients with rare and biphenotypic cancers such as cHCC-CCA