Resection depth for small colorectal polyps comparing cold snare polypectomy, hot snare polypectomy and underwater endoscopic mucosal resection

Background and study aims Small colorectal polyps are removed by various methods, including cold snare polypectomy (CSP), hot snare polypectomy (HSP), and underwater endoscopic mucosal resection (UEMR), but the indications for using these methods are unclear. We retrospectively assessed the efficacy of CSP, HSP, and UEMR for small polyps, focusing on the depth of the resected specimens. Patients and methods Outpatients with non-pedunculated small polyps (endoscopically diagnosed as 6 to 9 mm), resected by two endoscopists between July 2019 and September 2020, were enrolled. We histologically evaluated the specimens resected via CSP, HSP, and UEMR. The main outcome was the containment rate of the muscularis mucosa (MM) and submucosa (SM) tissues. Results Forty polyps resected via CSP (n = 14), HSP (n = 12), or UEMR (n = 14) were enrolled after excluding 13 polyps with resection depths that were difficult to determine. The rates of specimens containing MM and SM tissue differed significantly (57 % and 29 % for CSP, 92 % and 83 % for HSP, and 100 % and 100 % for UEMR, respectively (P = 0.005 for MM and P  Conclusions UEMR could be the best method to contain SM tissue without injection. Further studies are needed to evaluate the indication of UEMR for small polyps

The Impact of KRAS Mutation in Patients With Sporadic Nonampullary Duodenal Epithelial Tumors

INTRODUCTION: The genomic characterization of primary nonampullary duodenal adenocarcinoma indicates a genetic resemblance to gastric and colorectal cancers. However, a correlation between the clinical and molecular characteristics of these cancers has not been established. This study aimed to elucidate the clinicopathological features of sporadic nonampullary duodenal epithelial tumors, including their molecular characteristics and prognostic factors. METHODS: One hundred forty-eight patients with sporadic nonampullary duodenal epithelial tumors were examined in this study. Patient sex, age, TNM stage, tumor location, treatment methods, histology, KRAS mutation, BRAF mutation, Fusobacterium nucleatum, mucin phenotype, and programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) status were evaluated. KRAS and BRAF mutations, Fusobacterium nucleatum, mucin phenotype, and PD-L1 status were analyzed by direct sequencing, quantitative polymerase chain reaction, and immunochemical staining. RESULTS: The median follow-up duration was 119.4 months. There were no deaths from duodenal adenoma (the primary disease). Kaplan-Meier analysis for duodenal adenocarcinoma showed a significant effect of TNM stage (P DISCUSSION: Only KRAS mutation was a significant prognostic factor in primary sporadic nonampullary duodenal adenocarcinoma in cases in which TNM stage was considered

Leucine-rich alpha-2 glycoprotein as a marker of mucosal healing in inflammatory bowel disease

Leucine-rich alpha-2 glycoprotein (LRG) may be a novel serum biomarker for patients with inflammatory bowel disease. The association of LRG with the endoscopic activity and predictability of mucosal healing (MH) was determined and compared with those of C-reactive protein (CRP) and fecal markers (fecal immunochemical test [FIT] and fecal calprotectin [Fcal]) in 166 ulcerative colitis (UC) and 56 Crohn's disease (CD) patients. In UC, LRG was correlated with the endoscopic activity and could predict MH, but the performance was not superior to that of fecal markers (areas under the curve [AUCs] for predicting MH: LRG: 0.61, CRP: 0.59, FIT: 0.75, and Fcal: 0.72). In CD, the performance of LRG was equivalent to that of CRP and Fcal (AUCs for predicting MH: LRG: 0.82, CRP: 0.82, FIT: 0.70, and Fcal: 0.88). LRG was able to discriminate patients with MH from those with endoscopic activity among UC and CD patients with normal CRP levels. LRG was associated with endoscopic activity and could predict MH in both UC and CD patients. It may be particularly useful in CD

The impact of margin status determined by the one-millimeter rule on tumor recurrence and survival following pancreaticoduodenectomy for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma

Purpose: The tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) classification defines R1 as the presence of tumor cells at the resection margin, while the current Royal College of Pathologists guidelines for pancreaticoduodenectomy specimens regard the presence of tumor cells within 1 mm from the resection margin as R1 (the "1-mm rule"). The aims of this study were to investigate the resection margin status of pancreatic head cancer retrospectively according to both the TNM and 1-mm rule classifications, and to evaluate the postoperative survival and tumor recurrence patterns. Methods: A total of 117 patients with pancreatic head cancer were the subjects of this study. Results: R1^1-mm rule resection was associated with a significantly worse disease-free survival (DFS) than R0^1-mm rule resection (p = 0.0259), while R1^TNM had no impact on DFS. R1^1-mm rule resection margin status correlated with the incidence of tumor recurrence in the liver (p = 0.0483). In a multivariate analysis, R1^1-mm rule resection was the independent variable for predicting poor DFS (hazard ratio 1.71; p = 0.0289). Conclusions: R1 resection margin status determined by the 1-mm rule may be an independent indicator for predicting disease recurrence, especially liver metastasis. These results may be useful for selecting the appropriate adjuvant therapy protocol and conducting strict surveillance in PDAC patients

Comparison of circadian, weekly, and seasonal variations of electrical storms and single events of ventricular fibrillation in patients with Brugada syndrome

In patients with Brugada syndrome (BS), VF occurred predominantly during the nocturnal period. Some patients also developed ESs. In addition to the circadian rhythm, patients showed weekly and seasonal patterns. The patients with ESs had peak episodes of VF on Saturday and in the winter and spring, while episodes of VF in patients with single VF events occurred most often on Monday with smaller seasonal variation. Except for age, there was no difference in the clinical or ECG characteristics between the patients with ESs and those with single VF episodes

Comparison of circadian, weekly, and seasonal variations of electrical storms and single events of ventricular fibrillation in patients with Brugada syndrome

In patients with Brugada syndrome (BS), VF occurred predominantly during the nocturnal period. Some patients also developed ESs. In addition to the circadian rhythm, patients showed weekly and seasonal patterns. The patients with ESs had peak episodes of VF on Saturday and in the winter and spring, while episodes of VF in patients with single VF events occurred most often on Monday with smaller seasonal variation. Except for age, there was no difference in the clinical or ECG characteristics between the patients with ESs and those with single VF episodes