Racial and Ethnic Disparities Among Patients Hospitalized for Acute Cholangitis in the United States.

GOALS: We sought to determine whether race/ethnicity is associated with hospitalization outcomes among patients admitted with acute cholangitis. BACKGROUND: Few studies have evaluated the association between race and outcomes in patients with acute cholangitis. STUDY: We analyzed United States hospitalizations from 2009 to 2018 using the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS). We included patients 18 years old or above admitted with an ICD9/10 diagnosis of cholangitis. Race/ethnicity was categorized as White, Black, Hispanic, or Other. We used multivariable regression to determine the association between race/ethnicity and in-hospital outcomes of interest, including endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), early ERCP (<48 h from admission), length of stay (LOS), and in-hospital mortality. RESULTS: Of 116,889 hospitalizations for acute cholangitis, 70% identified as White, 10% identified as Black, 11% identified as Hispanic, and 9% identified as Other. The proportion of non-White patients increased over time. On multivariate analysis controlling for clinical and sociodemographic variables, compared with White patients, Black patients had higher in-hospital mortality (adjusted odds ratio: 1.4, 95% confidence interval: 1.2-1.6, P <0.001). Black patients were also less likely to undergo ERCP, more likely to undergo delayed ERCP, and had longer LOS ( P <0.001 for all). CONCLUSIONS: In this contemporary cohort of hospitalized patients with cholangitis, Black race was independently associated with fewer and delayed ERCP procedures, longer LOS, and higher mortality rates. Future studies with more granular social determinants of health data should further explore the underlying reasons for these disparities to develop interventions aimed at reducing racial disparities in outcomes among patients with acute cholangitis.

IgG4-related disease: features and treatment response in a multi-ethnic cohort in Singapore.

OBJECTIVES: To describe the features and treatment outcomes of IgG4-RD in multi-ethnic patients in Singapore. METHODS: Retrospective study was performed on IgG4-RD patients identified from patient databases in a tertiary hospital. RESULTS: Fourty-two patients (76% male) were included; 79% fulfilled the 2011 comprehensive diagnostic criteria for IgG4-RD for definite IgG4-RD. 81% were Chinese and 19% were Malays. Common initial manifestations included jaundice (52%), abdominal pain (36%) and swollen salivary glands (26%). Only 36% had a history of allergy. 83% had ≥ 1 organ involvement. Erythrocyte sedimentation rate, immunoglobulin E, IgG2 and IgG4 levels were elevated in 84%, 100%, 70% and 44% of patients, respectively. The most common histopathological feature was >10 IgG4+ cells per high power field (66%). 94% (34/36) of patients were treated with moderate to high doses of glucocorticoids, including 17 patients with combination immunosuppressants. Of these, all patients responded to therapy by 3 months. With a median (range) follow-up of 4.1 (0.4-13.8) years, 69% (25/36) needed low dose of glucocorticoids to maintain disease remission. Twenty-six per cent had relapse of disease, of which 82% had disease recurrence in the same organs. CONCLUSIONS: Pancreatitis, lymphoadenopathy and cholangitis were the commonest manifestations in Asians with IgG4-RD. All patients responded to glucocorticoid therapy by 3 months, two-thirds required maintenance therapy with glucocorticoids, and one-quarter developed relapse of disease.

[An Asian man with recurrent abdominal pain]. / Varón asiático con dolor abdominal recurrente.

Recurrent pyogenic cholangitis (RPC), or oriental cholangiohepatitis, is characterized by intrabiliary pigment stone formation, whose main manifestation consists of recurrent episodes of cholangitis, although other biliopancreatic complications can also occur. RPC develops mainly in Asian patients, in whom this entity is one of the main causes of acute abdominal pain. The differential diagnosis should be established with all other entities associated with intrahepatic stone formation, which is more common in Asian countries compared with the predominance of gallstone formation in the West. The diagnostic and therapeutic approach requires collaboration among gastroenterologists, radiologists and gastrointestinal surgeons. We review the most important clinical, diagnostic and therapeutic features of this entity, which, although clearly predominant in Asia, is increasingly diagnosed in our setting.

Helicobacter pylori in Thai patients with cholangiocarcinoma and its association with biliary inflammation and proliferation.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate whether Helicobacter spp. infection and the cagA of H. pylori are associated with hepatobiliary pathology, specifically biliary inflammation, cell proliferation and cholangiocarcinoma (CCA). METHODS: Helicobacter species including H. pylori, H. bilis and H. hepaticus were detected in the specimens using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Biliary inflammation of the liver and gallbladders was semi-quantitatively graded on hematoxylin and eosin (H&E)-stained slides. Biliary proliferation was evaluated by immunohistochemistry using the Ki-67-labelling index. RESULTS: Helicobacter pylori was found in 66.7%, 41.5% and 25.0% of the patients in the CCA, cholelithiasis and control groups (P < 0.05), respectively. By comparison, H. bilis was found in 14.9% and 9.4% of the patients with CCA and cholelithiasis, respectively (P > 0.05), and was absent in the control group. The cagA gene of H. pylori was detected in 36.2% and 9.1% of the patients with CCA and cholelithiasis, respectively (P < 0.05). Among patients with CCA, cell inflammation and proliferation in the liver and gallbladder were significantly higher among those DNA H. pylori positive than negative. CONCLUSIONS: The present findings suggest that H. pylori, especially the cagA-positive strains, may be involved in the pathogenesis of hepatobiliary diseases, especially CCA through enhanced biliary cell inflammation and proliferation.

Hepatolithiasis and the syndrome of recurrent pyogenic cholangitis: clinical, radiologic, and pathologic features.

Primary hepatothiasis (HL) and recurrent pyogenic cholangitis (RPC) are two terms describing the different aspects of the same disease, with HL emphasizing the pathologic changes and RPC emphasizing the clinical presentation and suppurative inflammation. It is predominantly a disease of the Far East. In the 1960s, it was the third most common cause of emergency abdominal surgery at a university hospital in Hong Kong. Thereafter, its incidence has decreased considerably, possibly due to improved standards of living and Westernized diet. Clinically, patients may present acutely with recurrent bacterial cholangitis and its possible complications, such as liver abscess and septicemic shock, or with chronic complications, such as cholangiocarcinoma. Pathologically, it is characterized by pigmented calcium bilirubinate stones within dilated intrahepatic bile ducts featuring chronic inflammation, mural fibrosis, and proliferation of peribiliary glands, without extrahepatic biliary obstruction. Episodes of suppurative inflammation cumulate in sclerosing cholangitis of peripheral ducts and parenchymal fibrosis resulting from collapse and scarring. Mass-forming inflammatory pseudotumor and neoplasms like intraductal papillary neoplasms and cholangiocarcinoma are increasingly recognized complications. Modern imaging techniques allow definitive diagnosis, accurate assessment for treatment planning, and detection of complications. A multidisciplinary team approach (interventional endoscopist, interventional radiologist, hepatobiliary surgeon, and intensivists) is important for optimal patient outcome.

Recurrent pyogenic cholangitis in Asian immigrants to the United States: natural history and role of therapeutic ERCP.

We reviewed the clinical presentation, cholangiographic features, and long-term outcomes in 41 patients with recurrent pyogenic cholangitis (RPC, "Oriental" cholangiohepatitis) who underwent ERCP at our institution, comparing patients who were initially managed with therapeutic ERCP, immediate hepatobiliary surgery, and no intervention. Patients undergoing only diagnostic ERCP had recurrent symptoms in 62% of cases, twice as often as patients managed initially by therapeutic ERCP or immediate surgery. These former patients required subsequent surgery more often than patients in the latter two groups. Outcomes for patients with diffuse biliary calculi were no different between patients managed by therapeutic ERCP or by immediate hepatobiliary surgery. In the 15 patients with only extrahepatic stones, 7/9 (71%) managed by therapeutic endoscopy and 7/8 (87.5%) managed by immediate hepatobiliary surgery were asymptomatic at almost two years mean follow-up (P > 0.05). Patients having undergone at least one definitive hepatobiliary surgery had fewer recurrences when managed by repeat surgery, although the difference was not statistically significant. Four of six (67%) patients with dominant strictures managed endoscopically are asymptomatic at mean follow-up of 15 months. Our study emphasizes the recurrent nature of symptoms in RPC and supports the primary role of therapeutic ERCP in managing these patients, especially those with extrahepatic stone disease alone.