Management of common bile duct stricture caused by chronic pancreatitis with metal mesh self expandable stents.

Twenty patients with chronic pancreatitis and signs of biliary obstruction were treated by endoscopic placement of self expandable metal mesh stents, and followed up prospectively. Eleven had been treated previously with plastic endoprostheses. All had persistent cholestasis, seven patients had jaundice, and three overt cholangitis. Endoscopic stent placement was successful in all cases. No early clinical complication was seen and cholestasis, jaundice or cholangitis rapidly resolved in all patients. Mean follow up was 33 months (range 24 to 42) and consisted of clinical evaluation, ultrasonography, and endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP). In 18 patients, successive ERCPs and cholangioscopies have shown that the metal mesh initially embeds in the bile duct wall and is rapidly covered by a continuous tissue by three months. The stent lumen remained patent and functional throughout the follow up period except in two patients who developed epithelial hyperplasia within the stent resulting in recurrent biliary obstruction, three and six months after placement. They were treated endoscopically with standard plastic stents with one of these patients ultimately requiring surgical drainage. No patient free of clinical or radiological signs of epithelial hyperplasia after six months developed obstruction later. This new treatment could become an effective alternative to surgical biliary diversion if further controlled follow up studies confirm the initial impression that self expandable metal mesh stents offer a low morbidity alternative for longterm biliary drainage in chronic pancreatitis without the inconvenience associated with plastic stents.

Expandable biliary metal stents for malignancies: endoscopic insertion and diathermic cleaning for tumor ingrowth.

Seventeen patients with malignant biliary strictures have been treated by endoscopic insertion of self-expandable metallic prostheses. Two patients received two prostheses inserted simultaneously in both the left and right hepatic ducts for Klatskin tumor type III. Immediate results were satisfactory despite an operative mortality of 18%, and neither early nor late clogging was observed even in patients who presented previously with sludge above plastic stents that were removed. However, among five patients followed for more than 4 months, two presented with obstruction due to tumor ingrowth into the stent through the metallic mesh. Accordingly, initial enthusiasm concerning long-term patency of these stents has decreased. However, we describe a technique of "diathermic cleaning" of tumor ingrowth which can easily restore the stent patency. The advantages of these wire mesh 30 F stents are their easier insertion, better immediate drainage, and absence of dislocation or perforation.

Incidência de carcinoma na esofagite cáustica / Incidence of carcinoma in caustic esophagitis

Na literatura médica säo descritos poucos casos de carcinoma do esôfago incidindo em pacientes com ingestäo prévia de substâncias cáusticas. Foram estudados quatro pacientes com esofagite cáustica que desenvolveram tardiamente carcinoma sobre a área afetada. O tempo médio entre a época da ingestäo do cáustico e o diagnóstico do carcinoma foi de 30 anos. A localizaçäo do processo neoplásico em todos os casos era do 1/3 médio do esôfago. Dois pacientes foram submetidos à esofagectomia com reconstituiçäo esofagogástrica cervical, um foi encaminhado à radioterapia e para o outro foi indicada a colocaçäo de prótese transtumoral via endoscópica. Em vista do elevado número destes pacientes e o potencial desta afecçäo sofrer degeneraçäo maligna na fase tardia, eles säo considerados grupo de alto risco e se enquadram no nosso programa de exame endoscópico, complementado com biópsia e citologia