Intraductal Papillary Neoplasm of the Bile Duct Treated with Argon Plasma Coagulation via Endoscopic Ultrasound-guided Choledochoduodenostomy.

A 93-year-old man presented to our hospital with a fever, abdominal pain, and jaundice. Computed tomography revealed bilateral bile duct dilation, cystic lesions with bile duct communication, and intraluminal solid nodules arising from the bile duct wall. The patient was diagnosed with intraductal papillary neoplasm of the bile duct. Surgery was not performed, considering the patient's age. It was impossible to control cholangitis using conventional endoscopic therapy. We therefore created an access route to the bile duct using endoscopic ultrasound-guided choledochoduodenostomy and inserted a lumen-apposed metal stent. Thereafter, we performed argon plasma coagulation of the tumor in the bile duct, which successfully prevented cholangitis recurrence.

Contrast-Enhanced Harmonic Endoscopic Ultrasound for Diagnosis of the Aggressiveness of Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Neoplasm.

The purpose of this study is to clarify the associations between the enhancement patterns on contrast-enhanced harmonic endoscopic ultrasound (CH-EUS) and the aggressiveness and prognosis of pancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms (PanNENs). Patients who underwent CH-EUS and were pathologically diagnosed with PanNEN were included in this study. Patients were divided into three groups according to contrast-enhancement patterns on early-phase and late-phase imaging: "Group A", vascular rich in both phases; "Group B", vascular rich and vascular poor in early and late phases, respectively; "Group C", vascular poor in both phases. Of 39 patients, 25 were assigned to Group A, 7 to Group B, and 7 to Group C. The median overall survival was not reached in Groups A and B and was 335 days in Group C (p < 0.001). The 1-year survival rates were 100% in Group A, 60% in Group B, and 43% in Group C. Patients in Group C showed the shortest overall survival among the three groups. The vascular-poor pattern on late-phase CH-EUS had the highest sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy for aggressive PanNENs among the patterns analyzed on CH-EUS and CECT (84.6%, 91.7%, and 89.2%, respectively). CH-EUS is useful for the diagnosis of and predicting the prognosis of PanNENs.