Introduction

Recently, artificial intelligence (AI)-based diagnostic support tools for early gastric cancer have been developed and reported to be superior to endoscopists (accuracy: 70% and sensitivity: 85%).¹ However, These tools could not guarantee reliable diagnostic accuracy in clinical practice. In previous reports, magnifying endoscopy has been recognized as superior to white-light imaging endoscopy for endoscopic diagnosis of early gastric cancers. Therefore, we developed an AI-based diagnostic support system using magnifying endoscopy with narrow band imaging (M-NBI) for early gastric cancers² and improved its application in clinical practice using nondegraded images obtained from selective depth inspection (SDI) output for real-time diagnosis. This study is the first to create an AI-based diagnostic support system using non-degraded M-NBI images obtained from SDI output, as several previous papers have analyzed damaged M-NBI images that were converted from various recording devices.^3,4

Aims & Methods

We built a new AI system (M-NBI AI) which was assembled using four different image recognition models with non-degraded M-NBI images (normal mucosa:1776 images, gastric cancers: 1947 images, and non-neoplastic lesions: 2451 images). We evaluated the performance of this M-NBI AI for diagnosis of early gastric cancer. The diagnostic performances of M-NBI AI and endoscopists (five specialists and five non-specialists) were compared using non-degraded M-NBI images (three images per lesion) of 50 early gastric cancer and 50 non-cancerous lesions. Early gastric cancers included histopathological types of well, moderately, and poorly differentiated adenocarcinomas and signet-ring cell adenocarcinomas. The primary outcome was the superiority of the M-NBI AI (based on accuracy) over the endoscopists. The secondary outcome was the superiority of the M-NBI AI (based on sensitivity) over the endoscopists.

Results

	M-NBI AI	Endoscopists
		Specialists	Non-specialists
Accuracy, % (95% CI)	87.0 (0.80–0.94)	80.0 (0.72–0.88)	71.0 (0.62–0.79)
Sensitivity, % (95% CI)	86.3 (0.77–0.96)	74.2 (0.63–0.85)	70.6 (0.58–0.83)
Specificity, % (95% CI)	88.0 (0.79–0.97)	89.0 (0.80–0.99)	71.0 (0.59–0.84)
PPV, % (95% CI)	88.0 (0.79–0.97)	92.0 (0.84–0.99)	72.0 (0.60–0.84)
NPV, % (95% CI)	86.0 (0.76–0.96)	68.0 (0.55–0.81)	70.0 (0.57–0.83)
PPV, positive predictive value; NPV, negative predictive value

The M-NBI AI was superior to the non-specialists based on accuracy (87.0%, 95%CI: 0.80–0.94 versus 71.0 %, 95%CI: 0.62–0.79; p<0.01), without being superior to the specialists (87.0%, 95%CI: 0.80–0.94 versus 80.0%, 95%CI: 0.72–0.88; p=0.18). The M-NBI AI was superior to the specialists and non-specialists based on sensitivity (86.3%, 95%CI: 0.77–0.96 versus 74.2%, 95%CI: 0.63–0.85 and 70.6%, 95%CI: 0.58–0.83; p<0.05, respectively).

Conclusion

The M-NBI AI was created as a new AI system that could be implemented for current endoscopy systems as a real-time diagnostic support tool for early gastric cancers. It demonstrated a robust performance and may indicate equalization of diagnostic accuracy and superadded effect over the white-light endoscopy for diagnosis of early gastric cancers in clinical practice.

References

1. Ishioka M et al. Dig Endosc. 2022. doi: 10.1111/den.14455.
2. Ueyama H et al. J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2021;36(2):482-489.
3. Horiuchi Y et al. Dig. Dis. Sci. 2020;65:1355–1363.
4. He X et al. Gastrointest Endosc. 2022;95(4):671-678.

Introduction

There are no established treatments for esophageal anastomotic stricture refractory to endoscopic balloon dilation (EBD). Patients experience a reduced quality of life and suffer a financial burden after surgery until the strictures are relieved. New treatments for refractory anastomotic stricture are clearly needed. Local steroid injection is reported to improve the effects of EBD. In addition, EBD with local steroid injection is a current community standard treatment for patients with refractory anastomotic stricture after esophagectomy, although the effect is limited. A new endoscopic treatment for such strictures is radial incision and cutting (RIC), which improves strictures by cutting through scar tissue at the stricture site with an electrocautery knife and removing any fibrous tissue that may cause re-stricture. However, the evidence for its effectiveness is limited to retrospective studies and small case series.

Aims & Methods

The aim of this multicenter, randomized, open-label, phaseⅡ/Ⅲ trial was to investigate the safety and the superiority of RIC with steroid injection compared with EBD with steroid injection for patients with refractory anastomotic stricture after esophagectomy for thoracic esophageal cancer. This is the first randomized controlled trial in the world for patients with refractory esophageal anastomotic strictures. Patients with Dysphagia Score ≥2 (able to swallow only semisolid foods or liquids) who had strictures through which a conventional endoscope (diameter, 9.6–10.4 mm) did not pass despite three or more EBDs or bougienage dilations were eligible for this trial. The primary endpoint in the phase II part was proportion of hemorrhages, post-operative esophageal perforations, esophageal hemorrhages, pneumothorax, lung or mediastinum infections or other unexpected adverse events. Co-primary endpoints in the phase III part were re-stricture-free survival and number of dilations for 24 weeks after treatment. This study was registered with the Japan Registry of Clinical Trials jRCTs031180177.

Results

From May 2014 to March 2022, 130 patients were enrolled from 32 institutions participating Gastrointestinal Endoscopy Study Group of the Japan Clinical Oncology Group and 65 patients each were randomized to EBD arm and RIC arm. The median number of dilations before registration was five in each arm. Dysphagia Score represented grade 2 (able to swallow semisolid foods) in 104 (80.0%) patients, grade 3 (able to swallow liquids only) in 25 (19.2%) patients, and grade 4 (unable to swallow liquids) in 1 (0.8%) patient in whole of study. Grade 3/4 pre-defined adverse events occurred in 1 (1.5%) patient in each arm. Median re-stricture-free survival in EBD arm was 10.6 weeks (95% CI: 6.9-20.1 weeks) and 8.7 weeks (95% CI: 7.1-10.9 weeks) in RIC arm (hazard ratio 1.22, 90% CI 0.85-1.74, one-sided p=0.82). The median number of dilations for 24 weeks after initial treatment was once (IQR: 0-2) in EBD arm and twice (IQR: 0-4) in RIC arm (one-sided p=0.99). The proportion of patients with anastomotic diameter >10 mm at 8 weeks after treatment was 27.7% (95% CI: 17.3-40.2%) in EBD arm and 24.6% (95% CI: 14.8-36.9%) in RIC arm.

Conclusion

RIC with steroid injection was not superior to repeated EBD with steroid injection for refractory anastomotic stricture after esophagectomy. EBD combined with steroid injection remains the standard of care for refractory anastomotic stricture after esophagectomy.

Introduction

Postoperative ileus, is one of the most common causes of prolonged hospital stays after abdominal surgery which cause from physiologic hypomotility of the gastrointestinal tract occurring immediately after abdominal surgery. Multi-modal approach to the resolution of postoperative ileus includes ERAS protocol such as opioid minimization, early ambulation, intake of prokinetic drug. Mosapride citrate (mosapride) is known to promote gastrointestinal motility. The objective of this study is to evaluate the effects of mosapride on postoperative ileus and postoperative gastrointestinal motility in patients undergoing elective open and laparoscopic colorectal surgery.

Aims & Methods

The study was approved by ethics committee of the Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital Mahidol University (Ref. Number COA.MURA2021/328,ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04905147). Forty-four colorectal cancer patients, undergoing open and laparoscopic colorectal surgery in Ramathibodi Hospital during July 2021-August 2022, were randomly assigned to a mosapride group or control group. The mosapride group received 15 mg of mosapride by enteric route with 50 ml of water three times a day, starting on postoperative day 1. The control group received 15 mg of placebo drug with 50 ml of water at the same time. Postoperative time to the first passage of flatus and the first bowel movement were evaluated by one investigator with triple blind study. Time to step diet, length of postoperative hospital stays, and adverse effects were also evaluated in secondary outcomes.

Results

All forty four patients were include, twenty-three in control group and twenty-one in mosapride group. There were no statistically significance differences between mean age and type of surgery (laparoscopic or open) in two group (P>0.05). Time to first bowel movement and time to passage of flatus after operation were significantly shorter in the mosapride group than the control group (26 vs 50 hours, P=0.004 and 40 vs 70 hours, P=0.003, respectively). Time to step diet (soft diet) was also shorter in the mosapride group (90 vs 132 hours, P=0.004). Time to defecate was less in mosapride group than control group (80 vs 120 hours, P <0.001). Length of hospital stay was significantly shorter in patients receiving mosapride (7 vs 10 days, P=0.004).

Conclusion

This study demonstrated the efficacy of mosapride when administered to patients who underwent elective colorectal surgery. Mosapride significantly enhance recovery of gastrointestinal motility and shorter length of hospital stay with no significant adverse effects.

References

1. Collins TC, Daley J, Henderson WH, Khuri SF. Risk factors for prolonged length of stay after major elective surgery. Ann Surg 1999;230:251–9
2. Vather R, O'Grady G, Bissett IP, Dinning PG. Postoperative ileus: mechanisms and future directions for research. Clin Exp Pharmacol Physiol. 2014;41(5):358-370.
3. Goldstein JL, Matuszewski KA, Delaney C, Senagore A, Chiao E, Shah M, et al. Inpatient economic burden of postoperative ileus associated with abdominal surgery in the United States. P AND T.2007;32(2):82.
4. Venara A, Neunlist M, Slim K, Barbieux J, Colas PA, Hamy A, et al. Postoperative ileus: Pathophysiology, incidence, and prevention. J Visc Surg 2016;153:439-46.
5. Luckey A, Livingston E, Taché Y. Mechanisms and Treatment of Postoperative Ileus. Arch Surg. 2003;138(2):206–214.
6. Georgiadis, G & Markantonis, Sophia & Triantafillidis, John. (2000). Prokinetic agents: Current aspects with focus on cisapride. Annals of Gastroenterology. 13.
7. Reynolds, J.C. & Putman, P.E. (1992) Prokinetic Agents, Gastroenterol Clin of North Am, Vol.21, pp.567-596.
8. Taniyama, K., Makimoto, N., Furuichi, A. et al. Functions of peripheral 5-hydroxytryptamine receptors, especially 5-hydroxytryptamine₄ receptor, in gastrointestinal motility. J Gastroenterol 35, 575–582 (2000).

Introduction

Gastroscopy is the gold standard for screening for gastric cancer(GC) and precancerous lesions. However, the high miss rate of conventional gastroscopy on detection of early GC and High-grade intraepithelial neoplasia has been reported. In our previous studies, a deep learning-based system (named intelligent and real-time gastroscopy analytical device, IREAD) was proposed and validated, which has shown its great potential for improving early detection of gastric neoplasms.

Aims & Methods

The aim of this study was to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of implementing IREAD-assisted gastroscopy screening for GC. We constructed a decision-analytic Markov model for a cohort of individuals aged 40 years and older for high-risk individuals in China with a total of 40 1-year cycles. We calculated the cost-effectiveness of three screening strategies (non-screening, conventional screening and AI-assisted screening) from a societal perspective (including direct and indirect costs). Screening frequencies and compliance were considered. The sensitivity and specificity of IREAD-assisted and conventional screening were obtained from our previous clinical trials. Prevalence rates, transitional probabilities, costs, and utilities were obtained from published literatures and public data sources. We calculated incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICER) using quality-adjusted life-years (QALY). One-way deterministic and simulated probabilistic sensitivity analyses were used to assess the robustness of the main outcomes.

Results

The average cost per patient was $3177,$3530 and $3482 while the average effectiveness was 16.03 QALY,16.04 QALY and 16.05 QALY per individual in non-screening, conventional screening and IREAD-assisted screening, respectively. Compared to the non-screening strategy, the ICERs for conventional screening and IREAD-assisted screening strategy were $20846.66/QALY and $14932.12/QALY, respectively, which were both cost-effective at the predetermined Willingness-to-pay threshold of $25,704/QALY. At the national level, replacement of conventional screening by IREAD-assisted screening could prevent 3372 GC cases and 917 GC deaths per year, and result in a cost savings of $1.75 billion. When setting the screening interval as 2 years according to the current recommendation, we found ICER increased as screening uptake rates decrease. By conducting further comparisons of the screening intervals from 1 to 3 years at 100% uptake, more frequent screening would be associated with a gain of more QALY but with higher costs for both conventional gastroscopy screening and IREAD assisted gastroscopy screening. In all the interval scenarios, the IREAD was cost saving compared to conventional screening and was cost effective compared to non-screening.

Conclusion

The implementation of IREAD-assisted screening was both cost-saving and effective compared to conventional screening. IERAD-assisted screening has potential to further prevent GC incidence and mortality.

Introduction

Non-variceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding (NVUGIB) is a common gastroenterological emergency associated with significant morbidity and mortality [1-3]. Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy is currently recommended as the gold standard modality for both diagnosis and treatment [4]. As historically played a limited role in the diagnosis of acute NVUGIB, multidetector-row computed tomography angiography (MDCTA) is emerging as a promising tool in the diagnosis of NVUGIB, especially for severe cases [5-6]. However, to date, evidence concerning the role of MDCTA in the NVUGIB diagnosis is still lacking.

Aims & Methods

The purpose of this study was to retrospectively investigate the diagnostic performance of emergent MDCTA performed prior to any diagnostic modality or following urgent upper endoscopy to identify the status, the site and the underlying etiology of severe NVUGIB. Institutional databases were reviewed in order to identify severe acute NVUGIB patients who were admitted to our bleeding unit and were referred for emergent MDCTA prior to any hemostatic treatment (<3 hours) or following (<3 hours) endoscopy, between December 2019 and October 2022. The study aim was to evaluate the diagnostic performance of MDCTA to detect the status, the site and the etiology of severe NVUGIB with endoscopy, digital subtraction angiography, surgery, pathology or a combination of them as reference standards.

Results

A total of 68 patients (38 men, median age 69 years [range 25–96]) were enrolled. The overall MDCTA sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy to diagnose bleeding status were 77.8% (95% CI: 65.5-87.3), 40% (95% CI: 5.3-85.3), and 75% (95% CI: 63.0-84.7), respectively (Table 1). Finally, the overall MDCTA sensitivity to identify the bleeding site and the bleeding etiology were 92.4% (95% CI: 83.2-97.5) and 79% (95% CI: 66.8-88.3), respectively.

Table 1. The diagnostic performance of MDCTA in detecting bleeding status.

	Active (n = 40)	Recent (n = 26)	Non-active and non-recent (n = 2)	Total (n = 68)
TP	29	20	-	49
TN	-	-	2	2
FP	0	3	-	3
FN	11	3	0	14
Sensitivity (95% CI)	72.5 (56.1-85.4)	87.0 (66.4-97.2)	-	77.8 (65.5-87.3)
Specificity (95% CI)	-	-	100 (15.81-100)	40.0 (5.3-85.3)
PPV (95% CI)	100 (88.1-100)	87.0 (66.4-97.2)	-	94.2 (84.1-98.8)
NPV (95% CI)	-	-	100 (15.81-100)	12.5 (1.55-38.4)
Accuracy (95% CI)	-	-	-	75 (63.0-84.7)

TP, true positive; TN, true negative; FP, false positive; FN, false negative; CI, confidence interval; PPV, positive predictive value; NPV, negative predictive value.

Conclusion

MDCTA seems to be a feasible and effective modality in detecting the site, the status and the etiology of severe acute NVUGIB. It may play a crucial role in the management of selected cases of NVUGIB, especially those clinically severe and/or secondary to rare and extraordinary rare sources, effectively guiding timing and type of treatment. However, further large prospective studies are needed to clarify the role of MDCTA in the diagnostic process of acute NVUGIB.

References

1. Wuerth BA, Rockey DC. Changing Epidemiology of Upper Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage in the Last Decade: A Nationwide Analysis. Dig Dis Sci 2018; 63: 1286–1293.
2. Laine L, Yang H, Chang S-C, et al. Trends for incidence of hospitalization and death due to GI complications in the United States from 2001 to 2009. Am J Gastroenterol 2012; 107: 1190–1195; quiz 1196.
3. Sanders DS, Perry MJ, Jones SGW, et al. Effectiveness of an upper-gastrointestinal haemorrhage unit: a prospective analysis of 900 consecutive cases using the Rockall score as a method of risk standardisation. Eur J Gastroenterol Hepatol 2004; 16: 487–494.
4. Gralnek IM, Stanley AJ, Morris AJ, et al. Endoscopic diagnosis and management of nonvariceal upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage (NVUGIH): European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE) Guideline - Update 2021. Endoscopy 2021; 53: 300–332.
5. Napoli A, Fleischmann D, Chan FP, et al. Computed tomography angiography: state-of-the-art imaging using multidetector-row technology. J Comput Assist Tomogr 2004; 28 Suppl 1: S32-45.
6. Wu L-M, Xu J-R, Yin Y, et al. Usefulness of CT angiography in diagnosing acute gastrointestinal bleeding: a meta-analysis. World J Gastroenterol 2010; 16: 3957–3963.

Disclosure

No conflict of interest to declare.

Introduction

The pathogenesis of irritable bowel syndrome with constipation (IBS-C) remains unclear. Several studies reported that gut dysbiosis had been observed in IBS patients. The treatment of IBS mostly focuses on symptomatic therapy. Acupuncture is one of the alternative therapies for IBS symptoms. However, the effects of acupuncture on symptoms and gut microbiota profiles of IBS-C patients are still unclear. The present study aimed to determine the alterations of the gut microbiota profiles between IBS-C patients and healthy subjects as well as to investigate the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) on the alterations of the profiles of gut microbiota and IBS symptoms in IBS-C patients.

Aims & Methods

We aim to determine the alterations of the gut-brain-microbiota axis between IBS-C patients and healthy subjects and to investigate the effect of electroacupuncture on the alterations of the gut-brain-microbiota axis in IBS-C patients. Thirty-two participants were enrolled in the study, including 16 healthy participants, as the control group and 16 IBS-C patients. Clinical data, blood, and fecal samples were collected from all participants. Then, 16 IBS-C patients were treated with EA nine times for 1 month. Clinical data, blood, and feces were collected in those IBS-C patients at 2-time points: after the end of EA and 1-month follow-up.

Results

Irritable bowel syndrome symptoms severity scale scores (IBS-SSS) and Irritable bowel syndrome quality of life (IBS-QoL) of IBS patients were significantly greater than the control group. There was no significant difference in cognition and depression scores in Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADs) between the control and the IBS-C groups. A significant increase in serum cortisol level in the IBS-C group was observed when compared to controls. Clinical outcomes of IBS symptoms were significantly improved after EA. These significances were also found in the 1-month follow-up. There was no significant change in serum cortisol levels following EA therapy. Regarding gut microbiota profiles, alpha diversity was not different between the four groups: control, IBS-C, after EA treatment, and 1-month follow-up. However, the beta diversity was significantly different among groups. The beta diversity used of PERMANOVA analysis showed a significant difference between the controls and IBS-C patients (PERMANOVA q-value < 0.05 in Bray-Curtis, Jaccard, and unweighted UniFrac distances). Immediately after EA therapy in IBS-C patients, the beta diversity showed no difference between pre- and post-treatment. Interestingly, the cluster of gut microbiota profiles shifted away from the IBS group and was similar to the control group after a 1-month follow-up.​

Conclusion

Our findings demonstrated the differences in profiles of gut microbiota profiles between IBS-C patients and healthy, and EA treatment showed the benefit of improving clinical outcomes and profiles of gut microbiota.

References

Chang L, Sundaresh S, Elliott J, Anton P, Baldi P, Licudine A, et al. Dysregulation of the hypothalamic‐pituitary‐adrenal (HPA) axis in irritable bowel syndrome. Neurogastroenterology & Motility. 2009.
Chen Y, Zhao Y, Luo D-n, et al. Electroacupuncture regulates disorders of gut-brain interaction by decreasing corticotropin-releasing factor in a rat model of IBS. Gastroenterology research and practice. 2019.
Tan L-h, Li K-g, Wu Y-y, et al. Effect of electroacupuncture at different acupoints on the expression of NMDA receptors in ACC and colon in IBS rats. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine. 2019.
Tap J, Derrien M, Törnblom H, Brazeilles R, Cools-Portier S, Doré J, et al. Identification of an intestinal microbiota signature associated with severity of irritable bowel syndrome. Gastroenterology. 2017.
Labus JS, Osadchiy V, Hsiao EY, et al. Evidence for an association of gut microbial Clostridia with brain functional connectivity and gastrointestinal sensorimotor function in patients with irritable bowel syndrome, based on tripartite network analysis. Microbiome. 2019.
Song Y-F, Pei L-X, Chen L, et al. Electroacupuncture relieves irritable bowel syndrome by regulating IL-18 and gut microbial dysbiosis in a trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid-induced post-inflammatory animal model. The American journal of Chinese medicine. 2020.
etc.

Disclosure

The authors declared that they have no conflicts of interest.

Introduction

Recently, the number of ESD cases of early gastric cancer detected after Helicobacter pylori eradication (GCAE) has been increasing. As the number of years since eradication increases, the management of metachronous carcinomas after ESD for GCAE has also become an issue. Serum gastrin level has been reported to be useful in identifying groups at high-risk of developing gastric cancer. In this study, we investigated the clinicopathological characteristics of patients with early-stage GCAE who underwent ESD at our department. Furthermore, we determined the risk of metachronous GCAE after ESD and the correlation between serum gastrin level and metachronous GCAE.

Aims & Methods

We retrospectively analyzed a total of 300 lesions in 245 patients who underwent ESD for GCAE with known period after eradication at Hiroshima University Hospital between April 2010 and December 2019 and examined their clinicopathology. We divided 220 lesions in 194 patients with initial GCAE who had no history of gastric endoscopic resection before successful eradication into the " metachronous gastric cancer (MGC) groups " and " no metachronous gastric cancer (NGC) groups ". Then, we examined the clinicopathological characteristics of metachronous gastric cancer cases. We classified 74 lesions in 63 patients of male and differentiated type cancers who have not been using PPIs into two groups: 37 lesions in 32 patients with gastrin level of less than 80 pg/ml and 37 lesions in 31 patients with gastrin level higher than 80 pg/ml.

Results

At a median follow-up of 4.0 years, 16 patients (8.2%) developed metachronous gastric cancers. Males were more predominant in the MGC group than in the NGC group (male / female; 16/0 vs. 223/74，p=0.02), which included increased cases of severe atrophy of the background gastric mucosa (mild to moderate / severe; 3/13 vs. 94/84, p=0.01), more lesions in the U and M regions of stomach (U･M / L; 19/4 vs 121/76, p=0.05), and a higher proportion of synchronous multiple lesions (synchronous tumor/ no synchronous tumor; 11/12 vs. 160/37, p=0.01). The relationship between gastrin levels and metachronous gastric cancer was examined, revealing that gastrin levels were higher in the MGC group. The group with a gastrin level of 80 pg/ml or higher had a significantly higher incidence of metachronous lesions than the group with that of less than 80 pg/ml (OR 6.88; 95% CI, 1.61–29.3; p=0.01).

Conclusion

These results that male patient with severe atrophy, the rates of localization to the U and M regions of stomach and the incidence of synchronous multiple lesions before ESD indicate should be noted and surveyed more strictly for metachronous gastric cancers developing after ESD of GCAE. Patients with gastrin 80 pg/ml or higher had increased risk of MGC, indicating that gastrin level may be a serological marker for MGC.