Risk Factors for Pancreatic Cancer in Patients with New-Onset Diabetes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

(1) Background: Patients with new-onset diabetes (NOD) are at risk of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), but the most relevant additional risk factors and clinical characteristics are not well established. (2) Objectives: To compare the risk for PDAC in NOD patients to persons without diabetes. Identify risk factors of PDAC among NOD patients. (3) Methods: Medline, Embase, and Google Scholar were last searched in June 2022 for observational studies on NOD patients and assessing risk factors for developing PDAC. Data were extracted, and Meta-Analysis was performed. Pooled effect sizes with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated with DerSimonian & Laird random effects models. (4) Findings: Twenty-two studies were included, and 576,210 patients with NOD contributed to the analysis, of which 3560 had PDAC. PDAC cases were older than controls by 6.14 years (CI 3.64-8.65, 11 studies). The highest risk of PDAC involved a family history of PDAC (3.78, CI 2.03-7.05, 4 studies), pancreatitis (5.66, CI 2.75-11.66, 9 studies), cholecystitis (2.5, CI 1.4-4.45, 4 studies), weight loss (2.49, CI 1.47-4.22, 4 studies), and high/rapidly increasing glycemia (2.33, CI 1.85-2.95, 4 studies) leading to more insulin use (4.91, CI 1.62-14.86, 5 studies). Smoking (ES 1.20, CI 1.03-1.41, 9 studies) and alcohol (ES 1.23, CI 1.09-1.38, 9 studies) have a smaller effect. (5) Conclusion: Important risk factors for PDAC among NOD patients are age, family history, and gallstones/pancreatitis. Symptoms are weight loss and rapid increase in glycemia. The identified risk factors could be used to develop a diagnostic model to screen NOD patients.

Dysregulation of miRNAs Targeting the IGF-1R Pathway in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), the most prevalent neoplastic lethal pancreatic disease, has a poor prognosis and an increasing incidence. The insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor (IGF-1R) signaling pathway is considered to be a contributing factor to the progression, metastasis, and therapy resistance of PDAC. Currently available treatment options for PDAC are limited, but microRNAs (miRNAs) may represent a new therapeutic strategy for targeting genes involved in the IGF-1R signaling pathway. METHOD: We investigated the expression levels of 21 miRNAs involved in the IGF-1R signaling pathway in pancreatic tissue from 38 patients with PDAC and 11 controls (five patients with chronic pancreatitis and six patients with normal pancreatic tissue). RESULTS: We found 19 differentially expressed miRNAs between the PDAC cases and the controls. In particular, miR-100-5p, miR-145-5p, miR-29c-3p, miR-9-5p, and miR-195-5p were exclusively downregulated in PDAC tissue but not in chronic pancreatitis or normal pancreatic tissues; both control types presented similar levels. We also identified miR-29a-3p, miR-29b-3p, and miR-7-5p as downregulated miRNAs in PDAC tissues as compared with normal tissues but not with pancreatitis tissues. CONCLUSIONS: We identified a panel of miRNAs that could represent putative therapeutic targets for the development of new miRNA-based therapies for PDAC.

Impact of laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy on esophageal physiology.

Introduction. Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) is a popular weight loss surgery technique, but the impact on esophageal physiology and esophagogastric junction is still debatable. The aim of our study was to evaluate the manometric changes of the lower esophageal sphincter (LES) after LSG in order to indicate LES manometry pre- procedure. Methods. In a prospective study we evaluated clinically, with upper gastrointestinal endoscopy, and high-resolution esophageal manometry 45 morbidly obese patients before, and 6-12 months after LSG. Results. The BMI (body mass index) decreased from 46.28±5.79 kg/m2 to 32.28±4.65 kg/m2 postoperatively (p <0.01), with a reduction of ~14 kg/m2 of BMI, 39.9 (±11.9) kg body weight and 29.9 (± 6.2)% of the TWL (Total Weight Loss index), in a median interval of 7.9 months. Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) prevalence increased from 17.8% to 31.1% postoperatively, with new GERD onset in 22.2%, but mild symptomatology (the median GERD-HRQL score increased from 1.56 to 2.84 points). Postoperatory reflux was associated with lower esophageal sphincter (LES) hypotonia, shortening of LES length and IIGP (increased intragastric pressure). Hiatal hernia repair rate was 17.8%, and proton pump inhibitor consumption 20%. After weight loss, the 10 cases of esophagitis discovered preoperatively cured, but 3 patients were diagnosed with de novo esophagitis. The prevalence of manometric dysmotility after LSG was 28.9%, lower than before surgery (44.4%). Conclusion. Even if GERD remains the main limitation of LSG, the high-resolution esophageal manometry has proved useful and should be implemented in morbidly obese evaluation protocol, to better select the bariatric procedure.

EUS-through-the-needle microbiopsy forceps in pancreatic cystic lesions: A systematic review.

Pancreatic cystic lesions (PCLs) are being increasingly encountered in clinical practice, and sometimes, they can represent a diagnostic challenge. Recently, a through-the-needle micro forceps biopsy (MFB) device was introduced in the endosonography practice to facilitate EUS-guided sampling of PCLs. The aim was to perform a systematic review of studies evaluating the technical aspects, safety, and efficacy of the EUS-guided MFB for PCLs. A literature search was performed in three major databases, PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science in September 2019 using the search terms: "through-the-needle," "biopsy forceps," "microforceps," "endoscopic ultrasound," and "endosonography." Case reports and case series with <10 patients were excluded from the analysis. Altogether nine studies reporting on 463 patients were included in our systematic review. The mean age of the patients was 68.3 years, with a slight female predominance (60.9%). Most of the cysts were located in the body/tail of the pancreas (61.2%), with an overall mean size of 33 mm. The technical success of EUS-guided MFB was reported in 98.5%. The tissue acquisition yield reported was 88.2%, and the diagnostic accuracy was 68.6%. Adverse events were reported in 9.7%. EUS-guided MFB is technically feasible, safe, and has a high diagnostic accuracy for PCLs.

Usefulness of virtual chromoendoscopy in the evaluation of subtle small bowel ulcerative lesions by endoscopists with no experience in videocapsule.

BACKGROUND AND STUDY AIMS: In videocapsule endoscopy examination (VCE), subtle variations in mucosal hue or pattern such as those seen in ulcerations can be difficult to detect, depending on the experience of the reader. Our aim was to test whether virtual chromoendoscopy (VC) techniques, designed to enhance the contrast between the lesion and the normal mucosa, could improve the characterization of ulcerative mucosal lesions. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Fifteen trainees or young gastroenterologists with no experience in VCE were randomly assigned to evaluate 250 true ulcerative and 100 false ulcerative, difficult-to-interpret small bowel lesions, initially as white light images (WLI) and then, in a second round, with the addition of one VC setting or again as WLI, labeling them as real lesions or artifacts. RESULTS: On the overall image evaluation, an improvement in lesion characterization was observed by adding any chromoendoscopy setting, especially Blue mode and FICE 1, with increases in accuracy of 13 % [95 %CI 0.8, 25.3] and 7.1 % [95 %CI - 17.0, 31.3], respectively. However, when only false ulcerative images were considered, with the same presets (Blue mode and FICE 1), there was a loss in accuracy of 10.7 % [95 %CI - 10.9, 32.3] and 7.3 % [95 %CI - 1.3, 16.0], respectively. The interobserver agreement was poor for both readings. CONCLUSIONS: VC helps beginner VCE readers correctly categorize difficult-to-interpret small bowel mucosal ulcerative lesions. However, false lesions tend to be misinterpreted as true ulcerative with the same presets. Therefore care is advised in using VC especially under poor bowel preparation.

Severe Refractory Anemia in Primary Intestinal Lymphangiectasia. A Case Report.

BACKGROUND: Primary intestinal lymphangiectasia (Waldmann's disease) is a rare disease characterized by dilated lymphatics in the small bowel leading to an exudative enteropathy with lymphopenia, hypoalbuminemia and hypogammaglobulinemia. CASE PRESENTATION: We report the case of a 23 year-old male who presented with chronic anemia and in whom primary intestinal lymphangiectasia was diagnosed. A low-fat diet along with nutritional therapy with medium-chain triglyceride supplementation improved the protein-losing enteropathy, but did not solve the anemia. Octreotide was also unsuccessful, and after attempting angiographic embolization therapy, limited small bowel resection together with antiplasmin therapy managed to correct the anemia and control the exudative enteropathy. CONCLUSIONS: Although primary intestinal lymphangiectasia is usually adequately managed by nutritional therapy, complications such as anemia can occur and can prove to be a therapeutic challenge.