Removal of Common Bile Ducts Stones via Percutaneous Access with a Flexible Ureteroscope and Laser Assistance.

Two patients are described with large stones in the common bile duct. Standard ERCP was not possible. Both patients were successfully treated with percutaneous access and use of the ureteroscope with the holmium laser.

The first results of the "bevolkingsonderzoek" in the Zaanstreek region in The Netherlands.

This short communication describes the results with respect to stage of colorectal cancer in people detected via screening and patients with clinical complaints.

Ascending Cholangitis due to Heavy Lifting.

Gallstone disease is the most common risk factor for cholangitis. In an anatomically normal bile duct system, cholangitis does not occur without the presence of stones. Endoscopic retrograde cholangiography with papillotomy and stone extraction is a well-established curative therapy for gallstones in the common bile duct. More important, papillotomy prevents recurrent episodes. The present case report describes a 73-year-old male with recurring cholangitis in a clear bile duct system after previous papillotomy. An etiology of duodenal reflux into the common bile duct due to heavy lifting is proposed.

Subacute Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation in a Patient with Liver Metastases of a Renal Cell Carcinoma.

Disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) is a syndrome characterised by simultaneous bleeding and thromboembolic formation. Its acute form is associated with severe bacterial infections and hematological malignancies. It has a fulminant presentation with prolonged bleeding times and diffuse thrombosis. On the other hand, chronic DIC can be asymptomatic for long periods of time and can be seen in patients with disseminated malignancies. This case report describes a patient who developed DIC within one week and bled profusely from venipuncture wounds. An underlying hepatogenic metastasised renal cell carcinoma appeared to be the cause. This is an uncommon and diagnostically challenging presentation.

[A woman with symptoms of an ileus]. / Een vrouw met een ileusbeeld.

An 84-year-old woman was seen with symptoms of an obstructive ileus. CT imaging revealed a volvulus of her intrathoracic stomach. This was successfully treated with gastroscopic detorsion. The patient recovered well.

Extramural Venous Invasion as Prognostic Factor of Recurrence in Stage 1 and 2 Colon Cancer.

AIM: Extramural venous invasion (EMVI) is a prognostic indicator in patients with colorectal cancer. However, its additional value in patients with stage 1 and 2 colorectal cancer is uncertain. In the present study, the incidence of EMVI and the hazard ratio for recurrence in patients with stage 1 and 2 colon cancer were studied. METHODS: 184 patients treated for stage 1 and 2 colon cancer were included with a follow-up of at least 5 years. Chart review was performed and EMVI was assessed by two separate pathologists. EMVI was scored with additional caldesmon staining on the resection specimen. Primary outcomes were recurrence-free survival (RFS) measured through the Cox regression analysis and prevalence of EMVI. RESULTS: There were 10 cases of EMVI and 3 cases of intramural venous invasion (IMVI) all occurring in patients with stage 2 disease corresponding to a prevalence of 9%. Thirty-one percent of the patients with venous invasion experienced recurrence versus 14% in patients without, corresponding with a hazard ratio of 2.39 (p = 0.11). CONCLUSION: The present study demonstrates a trend towards an increased risk of recurrence in patients with stage 2 colon cancer with venous invasion. This warrants consideration of adjuvant chemotherapy despite the lack of lymph node metastases.

The Impact of Duodenal Diverticuli and the Execution of Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreaticography.

Introduction. Duodenal diverticuli alter the anatomy of the papillary region and can make an ERCP difficult. Aim. To study the outcome of ERCP in cases of duodenal diverticuli. Patients and Methods. Consecutive ERCPs in a period of 24 years were included. Endoscopy reports were studied for presence of diverticuli. Success of the procedure and findings were noted. Clinical records were searched for clinical presentation of the patient. Patients without duodenal diverticuli were used as comparison. Results. 2795 procedures were done in 2092 patients. Of these, 211 (10%) had diverticuli. Diverticuli occurred significantly more often in women (p < 0.001). ERCP was significantly more often inconclusive in cases of a diverticulum, 12.8% versus 6.3%, p < 0.001. In cases of a successful ERCP, patients with diverticuli showed more often no abnormalities in the bile duct, 26% versus 17%, p < 0.001. In 64% of cases, the reason for ERCP was cholestasis. There was no significant difference in presence of stones or cholangitis. Biliary pancreatitis was seen more often in patients without diverticuli, 4.4% versus 1.4%, p = 0.04. This was also the case for malignancies, 18.5% versus 6.6%, p < 0.001. Conclusion. It is concluded that duodenal diverticuli can be responsible for cholestasis. Presence of a diverticulum in the duodenum makes the ERCP procedure more complex.

Long-term follow-up and development of diverticulitis in patients diagnosed with diverticulosis of the colon.

INTRODUCTION: Diverticulosis of the colon is the most occurring abnormality in the digestive tract. Little is known on the risk of developing diverticulitis. AIM: The study aims to assess the risk of diverticulitis. PATIENTS AND METHODS: All patients undergoing colonoscopy in the years 1998, 1999, and 2000 were studied. Patients with cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, anastomoses, and prior diverticulitis were excluded. In the summer of 2015, all hospital records, endoscopy reports, and reports from the department of radiology were studied. Diverticulitis had to be confirmed by the clinical presentation but also via ultrasound or CT scan. In order to obtain enough follow-up years, patients above the age of 75 years were excluded. RESULTS: After exclusions, a study group of 433 patients remained. There was no difference is gender between patients developing diverticulitis and those who did not. There was no difference in age at time of the index colonoscopy. The sum of follow-up years was 6191. Range of follow-up was 0 to 17 years. The mean follow-up was 14.1 years per patient. Thirty cases of diverticulitis (7 %) could be identified; this is 4.8 cases per 1000 years. The mean time to development of diverticulitis was 5.9 years. Diverticulitis had a mild presentation in 19 patients and a severe presentation needing surgical intervention in 11. CONCLUSION: The risk of developing diverticulitis is low. This contradicts the belief that diverticulosis has a high rate of progression. These results can help inform patients with diverticulosis about their risk of developing acute diverticulitis.

Endoscopic follow-up after surgery for colorectal cancer.

OBJECTIVE: Follow-up surgery for colorectal cancer is recommended. The yield of endoscopy is unknown and was therefore studied. METHODS: Patients with colorectal cancer in the years 2003, 2004 and 2005 were included. Evaluation was done in July 2014. RESULTS: Cancer was diagnosed in 267 patients. These were divided into three groups: group 1-still alive (n = 88), group 2-died within 1 year after diagnosis (n = 67), and group 3-died more than 1 year after diagnosis (n = 112). Patients in group 3 showed a trend towards non-cancer-related death (p = 0.06). Endoscopic follow-up was done in 101 patients (37.6 %). Patients still alive underwent more often follow-up colonoscopy (p < 0.001). Patients still alive had more often synchronous polyps detected during index endoscopy compared with patients of groups 2 and 3 (p = 0.03). Follow-up revealed more often new polyp(s) (p = 0.006). If no polyps were seen during the time of diagnosing cancer, follow-up endoscopy detected polyp(s) in 26 % of cases. Two newly developed cancers in group 1 and three in group 3 were diagnosed. CONCLUSION: Endoscopic follow-up after curative surgery for colorectal cancer has a high diagnostic yield. Whether detection and removal of polyps increases survival is not yet clear.

A 'shocking' finish to the Dam tot Damloop event.

A patient with status epilepticus after long-distance running is described. The patient, a young woman, was brought to our hospital with status epilepticus after completing in a running event, probably caused by an extremely low phosphate level of 0.30 mmol/l. Hypophosphataemia is a rare complication of running and can be caused by the use of phosphate in the glycogenolyticand glycolytic pathway.

Individual polyp detection rate in routine daily endoscopy practice depends on case-mix.

INTRODUCTION: The adenoma detection rate (ADR), a marker of endoscopic quality, is confounded by selection bias. It is not known what the ADR is in normal daily practice. AIM: To study the polyp detection rate (PDR) in different endoscopists in the course of years. PATIENTS AND METHODS: All consecutive endoscopies of the colon done in 11 years were included. Endoscopies in the regular surveillance programme after polyp removal and after surgery because of colorectal cancer or diverticular disease were scored separately. The number of yearly procedures per endoscopist and presence of polyps, anastomoses, surveillance and cancer were noted. RESULTS: In the period of 11 years, 14,908 consecutive endoscopies of colon and rectum were done by four endoscopists. Two endoscopists had a significantly lower PDR than the other two (p < 0.001), these two had the longest careers in endoscopy. The two younger endoscopists did significantly less often procedures in patients with anastomoses and because of surveillance (p < 0.001, respectively). One endoscopist detected significantly less colorectal cancers than the other three endoscopists (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: This study presents the PDR in normal routine daily endoscopy practice. It can be concluded that the PDR, implicating the ADR, in unselected patients can be lower in individual endoscopists than recommended in the literature. This highly depends on the case-mix of patients presented for endoscopy. This result debates the use of the ADR as quality indicator for individual endoscopists.

Development of polyps and cancer in patients with a negative colonoscopy: a follow-up study of more than 20 years.

Background. Adenomas are missed during colonoscopy. Aim. Assess the occurrence of colorectal cancer (CRC) and polyps in patients with a negative index colonoscopy (IC). Patients and Methods. All patients with a IC in 1992-1994, aged 40 and 60 years, were included. Exclusion criterion was presence of abnormalities, a family history, or surveillance. At the end of 2013 all records were studied in order to gather follow-up information. Results. 394 patients were included in four groups: group 1 patients who died, group 2 patients who were not in the hospital systems anymore, group 3 patients still visiting the hospital but not the department of gastroenterology, and group 4 patients undergoing new colonoscopies. In group 1, 2 patients died of CRC and 4 developed a polyp. No data were available from the patients in group 2. Patients in group 3 visited the outpatient clinics but did not undergo new colonoscopy. Patients in group 4 underwent additional colonoscopies. The yield was 35 patients polyps and three CRCs. Five patients (1.3%) developed CRC, and 39 (9%) developed a polyp. Conclusion. Given these results the number of potentially missed adenomas in IC is very low and the consequences of missed adenomas are highly exaggerated.

A Case of Extreme Gastroparesis due to an Occult Small Cell Cancer of the Lung.

A patient with gastroparesis is presented. Ultimately the diagnosis of paraneoplastic gastroparesis due to an occult small cell cancer of the lung was made. The difficulties in the diagnostic process and the pathogenesis of this very rare manifestation are discussed.