Endoscopic evaluation of indeterminate biliary strictures: Cholangioscopy, endoscopic ultrasound, or both?

ABSTRACT

Accurate and timely diagnosis of biliary strictures can be challenging. Because the diagnostic sensitivity and accuracy of standard endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography-based tissue sampling for malignancy are suboptimal, additional endoscopic evaluation by cholangioscopy and/or endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) is often necessary to differentiate between malignant and benign biliary strictures to guide clinical management. While direct visualization by cholangioscopy and/or high-resolution imaging by EUS are often the first step in the evaluation of an indeterminate biliary stricture (IDBS), tissue diagnosis by cholangioscopy-guided biopsy and/or EUS-guided fine-needle tissue acquisition is the preferred modality to establish a diagnosis of malignancy. Because each modality has its own strengths and limitations, selection of cholangioscopy and EUS is best guided by the biliary stricture location and local expertise. Artificial intelligence-assisted diagnosis, biopsy forceps with improved design, contrast-enhanced EUS, and dedicated fine-needle biopsy devices are recent technological advances that may further improve the diagnostic performance of cholangioscopy and EUS in patients with IDBS.