Endoscopic Ultrasound Elastography in the Assessment of Rectal Tumors: How Well Does It Work in Clinical Practice?

Endorectal ultrasound applications in the evaluation of rectal tumors could be a useful tool in achieving proper staging of rectal cancer. The purpose of this study was to compare the efficacy of rectal tumor staging by flexible endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) with real-time elastography (RTE) using the gold standard post-surgery histological analysis of the resected tissue as the control. The second aim of our research was to establish cutoff values for the EUS-RTE strain ratio corresponding to stages by independently comparing the stiffness values obtained with histology and EUS-RTE staging in order to minimize observation bias. We evaluated the records of 130 patients with a rectal tumor confirmed by biopsy. EUS was used in 70 patients, EUS-RTE-in the other 60. We found no statistically significant differences in staging accuracy when comparing EUS to EUS-RTE. Through a correspondence method between staging assessment and the EUS-RTE stain ratio, we identified cutoff intervals for T2, T3, and T4 staging that were nonoverlapping and proved to be statistically significant in terms of EUS-RTE values (significantly different ascending values from one interval to the other). We found that EUS-RTE offers slightly better, although not statistically significant sensitivity and specificity for T and N stage predictions compared to 2D EUS. Our results showed that EUS-RTE offers slightly higher sensitivity and specificity compared to EUS. Reliable cutoff intervals were found for strain rate elastography, previously available only for shear wave elastography (SWE) which is currently unavailable on any EUS system. Thus, these commonly available EUS-RTE systems can serve as a complementary tool in the staging of rectal tumors.

Rescue Therapy of Delayed Gastric Perforation Caused by an External Drainage Using an Over-the-Scope Clip.

This case reports a iatrogenic gastric fistula due to external draining successfully closed by using an over- the-scope clip. A 50-year old patient with a history of acute pancreatitis, segmental portal hypertension and splenectomy for splenic rupture, with long-term external drainage for a low volume pancreatic fistula, was referred to our hospital. The patient noticed the occurrence of a sudden increase of the drain flow and the immediate drainage of ingested liquid, with no fever or pain. An upper gastrointestinal endoscopy evidenced the gastric fistula with the presence of the drain inside the stomach near a gastric varix. The surgical approach was inappropriate due to bleeding risk. An over-the-scop clip was placed succeeding to stop the gastric flow. The external fistula closed one week later.

Epstein-Barr virus-associated gastric ulcer mimicking gastric neoplasia: a case report.

We describe a rare case of a severe gastric ulcer of a 66-year-old immunocompetent man who was associated with primary Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection and temporarily misdiagnosed with gastric lymphoma. A contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT-scan) of the thorax, abdomen and pelvis followed by EUS revealed a neoplastic infiltrative-ulcerative semicircumferentialgastric mass and a 1 cm large satellite adenopathy, being classified as T3N1M0 gastric neoplasia. The histological analysis of the ¾ distal stomach and lymph node sthat were resected contradicted the initial biopsy report, suggesting EBV gastric ulcer, etiology confirmed by the in situ hybridization technique.