Colon capsule versus computed tomography colonography for colorectal cancer screening in patients with positive fecal occult blood test who refuse colonoscopy: a randomized trial.

OBJECTIVE: Some patients (10 % - 32 %) with a positive guaiac fecal occult blood test (gFOBT) do not undergo the recommended colonoscopy. The aim of this study was to compare video capsule endoscopy (VCE) and computed tomography colonography (CTC) in terms of participation rate and detection outcomes when offered to patients with a positive gFOBT who did not undergo the recommended colonoscopy. METHODS: An invitation letter offering CTC or VCE was sent to selected patients after randomization. Acceptance of the proposed (or alternative) procedure and procedure results were recorded. Sample size was evaluated according to the hypothesis of a 13 % increase of participation with VCE. RESULTS: A total of 756 patients were targeted. Following the invitation letter, 5.0 % (19/378) of patients underwent the proposed VCE and 7.4 % (28/378) underwent CTC, (P = 0.18). Following the letter, 9.8 % (37/378) of patients in the VCE group underwent a diagnostic procedure (19 VCE, 1 CTC, 17 colonoscopy) vs. 10.8 % in the CTC group (41/378: 28 CTC, 13 colonoscopy; P = 0.55). There were more potentially neoplastic lesions diagnosed in the VCE group than in the CTC group (12/20 [60.0 %] vs. 8/28 [28.6 %]; P = 0.04). Thus, 15/20 noninvasive procedures in the VCE group (19 VCE, 1 CTC; 75.0 %) vs. 10/28 in the CTC group (35.7 %; P = 0.01) resulted in a recommendation of further colonoscopy, but only 10/25 patients actually underwent this proposed colonoscopy. CONCLUSION: Patients with a positive gFOBT result who do not undergo the recommended colonoscopy are difficult to recruit to the screening program and simply proposing an additional, less-invasive procedure, such as VCE or CTC, is not an effective strategy.ClinicalTrials.govNCT02558881TRIAL REGISTRATION: Randomized, controlled trial NCT02558881 at clinicaltrials.gov.

Impact of chromoscopy on adenoma detection in patients with Lynch syndrome: a prospective, multicenter, blinded, tandem colonoscopy study.

OBJECTIVES: In Lynch syndrome, flat and diminutive adenomas are particularly prone to malignant transformation, but they can be missed by standard colonoscopy. It is not known whether chromocolonoscopy is able to detect more adenomas than standard colonoscopy in patients with Lynch syndrome. METHODS: We conducted a prospective, multicenter, randomized trial to compare standard colonoscopy with standard colonoscopy followed by pancolonic chromoscopy with indigo carmine in patients with a proven germline mutation in a mismatch-repair gene related to Lynch syndrome and who were undergoing screening or surveillance colonoscopy. Standard colonoscopy was used first to detect visible lesions. Colonoscopy with chromoscopy was then performed by a second gastroenterologist (blinded to the findings of the first colonoscopy) to detect additional lesions. The primary end point was the number of patients in whom at least one adenoma was detected. RESULTS: A total of 78 eligible patients (median age, 45 years) were enrolled at 10 centers from July 2008 to August 2009. Significantly more patients with at least one adenoma were identified by chromocolonoscopy (32/78 (41%)) than by standard colonoscopy (18/78 (23%); P<0.001). The percentage of patients in whom at least one additional adenoma was detected during the chromoscopy was 31% (24/78). Overall, chromocolonoscopy plus colonoscopy detected a total of 55 adenomas in 32 patients (mean number of adenomas detected per patient: 0.7 vs. standard colonoscopy alone: 0.3; P<0.001). CONCLUSION: The results support the proposition that chromocolonoscopy may significantly improve the detection rate of colorectal adenomas in patients undergoing screening or surveillance colonoscopy for Lynch syndrome.

Endoscopic treatment of severe duodenal polyposis as an alternative to surgery for patients with familial adenomatous polyposis.

BACKGROUND: Patients with familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) and severe (stage IV) duodenal polyposis are candidates for pancreaticoduodenectomy, which has high morbidity. Little information is available about the feasibility of therapeutic endoscopy for these patients. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the long-term efficiency and risks of endoscopic therapy. DESIGN: Retrospective study. SETTING: A 2-referral center long-term cohort study. PATIENTS: Thirty-five FAP patients (15 men, mean age 48 years) presenting with stage IV duodenal polyposis were included. Patients had a mean Spigelman classification score of 9.8 points (range 9-12 points) at their first examination. INTERVENTIONS: Patients underwent a surveillance endoscopy, including lateral and axial viewing with chromoendoscopy while under sedation, along with 7 ± 4.8 therapeutic endoscopic sessions during a follow-up period of 9 ± 4.5 years (range 1-19 years) after their first endoscopy. MAIN OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS: Treatment modalities, adverse events, and efficiency (evolution of the Spigelman score) were reviewed. RESULTS: A total of 245 therapeutic endoscopies were performed and 15 adverse events (6%) occurred. During the follow-up period, Spigelman scores decreased in 95% of patients by 6 ± 2.2 points (P = .002). Modeling analysis showed that the mean Spigelman score decreased by 60% after 150 months. LIMITATIONS: Retrospective study and the duration of the follow-up, even though this is the longest follow-up reported in medical literature. CONCLUSION: Endoscopic treatment of severe duodenal polyposis in patients with FAP produces few adverse events and allows efficient downstaging of the polyposis. Long-term follow-up data did not reveal a high risk of invasive duodenal cancer in these patients.

Can we shorten the small-bowel capsule reading time with the "Quick-view" image detection system?

BACKGROUND: The mean small-bowel capsule reading time is about 60 min, and shortening this reading time is a major aim. AIM: To evaluate the efficiency of the "Quick-view" detection algorithm. METHODS: Multicentre prospective comparative study. One hundred and six small bowel capsule films from 12 centres reviewed in Quick-view mode by 12 experienced readers. Reading time, image relevance, and comparison of Quick-view reading results to results of initial reading. Review of discordant result by 3 experts. RESULTS: The mean reading time in Quick-view mode was of 11.6 min (2-27). Concordant negative results were obtained in 41 cases (38.6%) and concordant positive results in 35 cases (33.0%). A discordant result was obtained in 30 (28.3%) cases: 21 false positive cases (initial reading 12 cases, Quick-view reading 9 cases), 14 false negative cases (initial reading 7, Quick-view 7). Four out of 7 lesions missed at Quick-view reading were not present on the Quick-view film (theoretical sensitivity 93.5%). CONCLUSION: The Quick-view informatic algorithm detected nearly 94% of significant lesions, and Quick-view reading was as efficient as the initial reading and much shorter. These results are to be confirmed by further studies, but suggest an excellent sensitivity for the Quick-view algorithm.

High diagnostic and clinical impact of small-bowel capsule endoscopy in patients with hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia with overt digestive bleeding and/or severe anemia.

BACKGROUND: Patients with hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT) often present with recurrent anemia because of epistaxis or GI bleeding in relation to telangiectases mostly located in the stomach or small bowel. Capsule endoscopy is considered a major diagnostic tool for small-bowel diseases, but the impact of capsule endoscopy imaging on patient management in HHT is poorly understood. OBJECTIVE: To clarify the contribution of capsule endoscopy in selected patients with HHT. DESIGN: Prospective, descriptive study. SETTING: Multicenter, two university hospital tertiary-care centers, from January 2003 to June 2007. PATIENTS: This study involved 30 patients with HHT and severe anemia (hemoglobin <9 g/dL; normal: 11-15 g/dL) and minimal epistaxis or moderate anemia but overt GI bleeding. INTERVENTION: Capsule endoscopy investigation. MAIN OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS: Clinical characteristics and capsule endoscopy results and their clinical consequences. RESULTS: Capsule endoscopy detected gastric and small-bowel telangiectases in 14 (46.7%) and 26 (86.7%) cases, respectively. Active bleeding was present in 36.7% of cases. Diffuse telangiectases were detected in 42.3% without correlation with age, sex, or type of HHT mutation. Further investigations were carried out as a consequence of the capsule endoscopy results in 67% of cases. Treatment, consisting mostly of endoscopic argon plasma coagulation, was scheduled in 46.7% of patients. LIMITATIONS: Our population was essentially composed of patients with the ALK1 mutation. CONCLUSION: This study shows that there is a high diagnostic yield for capsule endoscopy in selected patients with HHT. Capsule endoscopy makes possible precise mapping of lesions and has a considerable impact on the management of these selected patients by using a predefined algorithm: a limited number of accessible lesions is suitable for endoscopic treatment, whereas innumerable diffuse lesions require a medical approach. We suggest that capsule endoscopy could be a first-line, noninvasive, digestive tract examination in selected patients with HHT.

Capsule endoscopy versus colonoscopy for the detection of polyps and cancer.

BACKGROUND: An ingestible capsule consisting of an endoscope equipped with a video camera at both ends was designed to explore the colon. This study compared capsule endoscopy with optical colonoscopy for the detection of colorectal polyps and cancer. METHODS: We performed a prospective, multicenter study comparing capsule endoscopy with optical colonoscopy (the standard for comparison) in a cohort of patients with known or suspected colonic disease for the detection of colorectal polyps or cancer. Patients underwent an adapted colon preparation, and colon cleanliness was graded from poor to excellent. We computed the sensitivity and specificity of capsule endoscopy for polyps, advanced adenoma, and cancer. RESULTS: A total of 328 patients (mean age, 58.6 years) were included in the study. The capsule was excreted within 10 hours after ingestion and before the end of the lifetime of the battery in 92.8% of the patients. The sensitivity and specificity of capsule endoscopy for detecting polyps that were 6 mm in size or bigger were 64% (95% confidence interval [CI], 59 to 72) and 84% (95% CI, 81 to 87), respectively, and for detecting advanced adenoma, the sensitivity and specificity were 73% (95% CI, 61 to 83) and 79% (95% CI, 77 to 81), respectively. Of 19 cancers detected by colonoscopy, 14 were detected by capsule endoscopy (sensitivity, 74%; 95% CI, 52 to 88). For all lesions, the sensitivity of capsule endoscopy was higher in patients with good or excellent colon cleanliness than in those with fair or poor colon cleanliness. Mild-to-moderate adverse events were reported in 26 patients (7.9%) and were mostly related to the colon preparation. CONCLUSIONS: The use of capsule endoscopy of the colon allows visualization of the colonic mucosa in most patients, but its sensitivity for detecting colonic lesions is low as compared with the use of optical colonoscopy. (ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00604162.)

Irinotecan drug eluting beads used as a treatment of advanced intra hepatic cholangiocarcinoma.

This report describes a 74-year-old male with unresectable intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC). However surgical procedure is the only curative treatment, it often seems to be ineffective because of the aggressive behaviour of the disease. The role of systemic chemotherapy in the ICC is undefined with a median survival between 6.43 to 12.17 months obtained by using the combination chemotherapy of gemcitabine with cisplatin. In the present case, we performed a targeted treatment using drug eluting beads (DEB) with irinotecan (IRI) administered as transarterial-chemoembolization (TACE). After one session, the tumour vascularity decreased significantly at the one month evaluation on computed tomography (CT) scan of the liver. This case report suggested that minimally invasive transcatheter DEB embolization could be a promising, safe and effective treatment for selective patients with unresectable ICC.

[International consensus in Paris, 2006, on the indications and use of the endoscopic videocapsule test. Report of the SFED Capsule Commission]. / Consensus international de Paris 2006 sur les indications et les modalités de l'examen par capsule vidéoendoscopique. Rapport de la commission capsule de la Sfed.

Following the 4th International Conference on Capsule Endoscopy (ICCE, Miami 2005), the main indications for videocapsule endoscopy (VCE) were reviewed. The consensus guidelines were published in Endoscopy in 2005. These propositions for VCE were based on an analysis of evidence reported in the literature published through 2005. A small working group of experts examined each methodology and presented their report at the plenary session. The final conclusions were then published. At the ICCE 2006 held in Paris, this first version of the consensus guidelines was improved and completed.

Does the "Suspected Blood Indicator" improve the detection of bleeding lesions by capsule endoscopy?

BACKGROUND: The "Suspected Blood Indicator" (SBI), a feature included in the software for interpretation of capsule endoscopy (CE), is designed to facilitate detection of bleeding lesions in the small bowel. This study evaluated the sensitivity and the specificity of the SBI in patients who underwent CE for obscure GI bleeding (OGIB). METHODS: CE recordings from patients with OGIB recruited in 7 centers were read by experts blinded to the red SBI tags. They classified lesions of interest as bleeding or as having a potential for bleeding that was high (P2), low (P1), or absent (P0). The SBI tags then were marked by a another investigator. Concordance was acknowledged when frames selected by the expert reader, and those tagged by the SBI had the same time code. RESULTS: A total of 156 recordings were evaluated. In 83, there was either no lesion (n = 71) or a P0 lesion (n = 12); these CE recordings were regarded as normal. Among the 73 abnormal recordings, 114 P2 and 92 P1 lesions were identified. A total of 154 red tags were analyzed. Sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values of SBI were 37%, 59%, 50%, and 46%, respectively, for detection of the presence of a P2 or P1 lesion in front of a red tag. CONCLUSIONS: SBI-based detection of intestinal lesions with the potential for bleeding is of limited clinical value in practice and does not reduce the time required for interpretation of CE.