Introduction

Acute pancreatitis (AP) is a common cause of acute hospital admissions, with the potential for severe acute complications, progression to chronic pancreatitis and recurrent episodes. A first presentation leads to investigations to identify a cause, including serum blood tests and transabdominal ultrasound. Following these investigations, a significant minority of patients have no clear cause for pancreatitis. Endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) can identify aetiologies of AP, and direct intervention to reduce recurrence. The goal of this study was to determine the diagnostic yield of EUS and the impact of subsequent biliary intervention on recurrence of AP.

Aims & Methods

This was a retrospective service evaluation of EUS referrals to a regional referral centre in the UK from January 2015 to December 2019. Demographics, symptoms, liver blood tests, non-invasive imaging, EUS records and outcomes were reviewed. A EUS was labelled as diagnostic if findings were identified which explained the cause for pancreatitis that had not been explained with other investigations. Symptom resolution was defined as no further episodes of acute pancreatitis or abdominal pain requiring investigation, imaging, or presentation to secondary care during the follow-up period. Statistical significance for the difference between proportions was calculated using chi-squared tests.­­­­­­­­­­

Results

Ninety-seven patients were included in the study. The median age of the cohort was 58 (range 18-88) years. 55 (57%) patients were male. 22/97 (23%) patients had previously had a cholecystectomy. 41/97 (42%) had abnormal liver blood tests at the time of referral. Three patients had no non-invasive imaging. 27/97 (28%) had one of either transabdominal ultrasound, MRCP or CT, 63/97 (65%) had two tests and 4/97 (4%) had all three. 5 (5%) patients previously had a non-diagnostic EUS.
72/97 (74%) EUS were diagnostic. Findings included gallstones (n=15), gallbladder microlithiasis/sludge (n=51), bile duct stones (n=13), bile duct microlithiasis/sludge (n=11), chronic pancreatitis (n=7) and a pancreatic mass (n=1) which was later diagnosed as a pancreatic adenocarcinoma.
65 patients had a biliary aetiology for their pancreatitis which was amenable to treatment. Of these, 12 had subsequent ERCP, 7 had ERCP and cholecystectomy, 33 had a cholecystectomy and 13 were treated conservatively. Recurrent pancreatitis occurred in 12/52 (23%) patients who had treatment for a biliary aetiology of their pancreatitis compared with 8/13 (75%; p<0.01) of patients who were managed conservatively despite a biliary aetiology for pancreatitis, 8/32 (25%; p=0.84) of patients with a diagnostic EUS with a finding not amenable to treatment or a non-diagnostic EUS experienced further episodes. One patient died from complications related to acute pancreatitis and was not included in this analysis. Median duration of follow-up was 51 months (range 32-80 months).

Conclusion

In our cohort of patients referred for EUS for unexplained acute pancreatitis, EUS had a high diagnostic yield. A lower proportion of patients had a biliary aetiology for their pancreatitis that was amenable to intervention with either ERCP, cholecystectomy or both procedures; these patients experienced fewer episodes of recurrent acute pancreatitis than those managed conservatively. This supports the use of EUS in patients with acute pancreatitis with no cause identified with non-invasive imaging.

Clinical Case Summary

A 39-year-old woman was admitted on June 20, 2024, with a right middle cerebral artery stroke, nine weeks after starting Upadacitinib for ulcerative colitis. She presented with dysarthria, dysphagia, and severe left-sided weakness. CT imaging revealed a wedge-shaped infarction without intracranial hemorrhage (CT head/ Brain MRI).
She was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis in November 2023, she initially responded to Mezavent and steroids but was hospitalized on March 31, 2024 for moderate UC flare, requiring infliximab rescue therapy. The patient presented with four bloody bowel movements and elevated inflammatory markers (CRP>100), confirmed by a Mayo score of 2 on flexible sigmoidoscopy and cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection was excluded. Clostridium difficile tests were negative twice and a CT scan revealed pancolitis. Despite minimal response to rescue therapy, she opted for medical treatment over colectomy.
On April 23, 2024, she began an eight-week induction of Upadacitinib 45 mg, which she tolerated well. However, on June 20, she developed sudden stroke symptoms while eating dinner, including difficulty swallowing, choking, left-sided weakness, and numbness. She had no vascular risk factors or family history of premature cardiovascular conditions. Lupus, and vasculitis work up were unremarkable and extensive thrombophilia screenings were all negative.
Discussion: Thrombosis in IBD patients can result from various potential causes. First of all, Inflammation and hypercoagulability, driven by elevated cytokines like TNF, interleukins, and CRP, activate the coagulation cascade, increasing thrombosis risk.
Conclusion: IBD is a known risk of thromboembolic disease, this risk increased during flare up will raise future research questions regarding extended anticoagulation prophylaxis during flare and uses of Jak stats inhibitor.

References

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Introduction

Endoscopic radical excision in the rectum may offer a curative, organ-preserving strategy, potentially reducing the need for surgery and its associated morbidity and mortality.¹ The muscle-retracting sign (MRS) detected using the pocket-detection method (PDM) has shown moderate to high diagnostic accuracy for real-time submucosal invasion (SMI) depth assessment in rectal lesions.² This study evaluated the technical and clinical outcomes of a structured algorithm combining PDM and MRS for real-time invasion depth assessment with endoscopic resection of rectal lesions.

Aims & Methods

We prospectively included consecutive patients with rectal lesions at risk of SMI at a tertiary care centre between September 2023 and March 2025. We excluded lesions with nodal metastases on radiological staging and subepithelial lesions. A management algorithm was applied, incorporating PDM for MRS status evaluation and invasion assessment, followed by endoscopic resection based on MRS status, lesion size, and location: endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD; MRS-, all locations), endoscopic intermuscular dissection (EID; MRS+ or severe fibrosis, distal rectum), knife-assisted full-thickness resection (kFTR; MRS+ or severe fibrosis, any size, proximal extraperitoneal rectum), or device-assisted full-thickness resection (FTRD; MRS+ or severe fibrosis, ≤15 mm, intraperitoneal rectum). Primary outcomes were technical success, en-bloc and R0 resection and adverse events.

Results

37 rectal lesions were included (mean patient age 68.8 years [SD 10.1]; 56.8% male). The median lesion size was 30 mm (IQR 20–40), mostly located in the distal rectum (23/37; 62.2%), and distributed as anterior (n = 12), lateral (n = 11), and posterior (n = 14). 5 lesions (13.5%) were classified as JNET 2b, 15 (40.5%) as JNET 3.
Among MRS-negative lesions (23/37; 62.2%), 22 underwent ESD, and 1 underwent EID for submucosal fibrosis. In MRS-positive lesions (14/37; 37.8%), the selected treatments included EID in 7, kFTR in 6, and FTRD in 1.
Technical success of PDM and endoscopic resection was achieved in 36/37 cases (97.3%). En-bloc resection was achieved in 36/37 (97.3%) cases, and R0 resection in 34/36 (94.4 %). Pathology revealed deeply invasive (>pT1sm1) adenocarcinoma in 14/37 (37.8%), with 83.8% diagnostic accuracy of PDM + MRS. Curative resection was achieved in 26/37 cases (70.3%). Adverse events occurred in 4/37 patients (10.8%), including delayed bleeding in 3 (8.1%) and pneumonia in 1 (2.7%). No delayed perforation occurred. The median length of hospital stay was 1 day (IQR 1-1).
Rectal preservation was achieved in 34/37 patients (91.9%), with a median follow-up of 8.8 months (IQR 5.3-10.8). We observed no loco-regional recurrences, distant metastases, or deaths. Surgery was performed for technical failure in one case (kFTR aborted due to massive invasion, pT2N0 adenocarcinoma) and for non-curative resections in 2 cases (one with pT0N1 and another with pT0N0 in surgical specimens).

Conclusion

The PRIME endoscopic algorithm demonstrated high technical success, en-bloc and R0 resection rates for rectal lesions at risk of SMI. This minimally invasive approach allowed rectal preservation in the majority of patients with a low rate of complications, making it a promising alternative to surgery for such lesions.

References

1. Argenziano, M.E.*, Sorge, A.*, Hoorens, A., Montori, M., Poortmans, P.J., Smeets, S., Tornai, T., Debels, L.K., Desomer, L. and Tate, D.J. (2025), Knife-assisted full-thickness resection guided by the pocket-detection method for posterior deeply invasive rectal cancer: A novel endoscopic approach (with video). DEN Open, 5: e70116. https://doi.org/10.1002/deo2.70116
2. Argenziano, M E*; Sorge, A*; Montori, M; Poortmans, P J; Tornai, T; Smeets, S; Al-Dury, S; Debels, L; Desomer, L; Tate, D J Accuracy of the Muscle Retraction Sign for determining deep Submucosal Invasion During Endoscopic Resection of Rectal Lesions. Endoscopy 2025; 57(S02): 14 - 14 DOI: 10.1055/s-0045-1805114

Clinical Case Summary

A 71-year-old female presented to the gastroenterology clinic following a two year history of dysphagia and sensation of food sticking in the oesophagus. Her dysphagia was limited to solid foods, and symptoms were not exacerbated by positional change. Pain was mostly localised around the sternal notch where she would have the sensation of a food bolus. Over the preceding 2 years, she had experienced about 7.5kg of weight loss with no constitutional symptoms of fevers or fatigue. Her past medical history included hypertension, dyslipidaemia, lower back pain, cold agglutinin disease, monoclonal B lymphocytosis and peripheral arterial disease. On examination, there were no signs of malnourishment or palpable lymph nodes in the axilla, neck or supraclavicular region. Her abdomen was soft and non-tender. Given largely non-illuminating blood results, an oesophageal-gastroduedonoscopy was performed. However, no findings were noted, specifically no oesophageal webs, Zenker diverticulum, gastroparesis, trachealisation of the oesophagus or corrosive pathology. H. pylori was also not isolated on histopathology. A barium swallow was then performed which showed extensive external compression of the proximal third of the oesophagus at the level of the arch of the aorta, most indicative of dysphagia lusoria (Fig 1). Computed tomography angiography (CTA) showed retroesophageal aberrant right subclavian artery bifurcating from the ascending aorta independent of a brachiocephalic artery and causing external oesophageal compression (Fig 2 & 3). Given this definitive diagnosis, the patient was then seen in clinic where management of dysphagia lusoria was explained. Despite ongoing symptoms, the patient decided to continue with conservative management and lifestyle modifications, which included eating smaller bites and increase in fluid intake. Although an extensive compression typically requires surgical intervention, our patient was stable at two-year follow-up (Fig 4 A-B).

References

Figure 1: Barium swallow examination showing extrinsic compression of the proximal third of the oesophagus at the level of the aortic arch (white arrow).
Figure 2: Axial view of computed tomography angiography (CTA) showing the posterior course of the retroesophageal aberrant right subclavian artery.
Figure 3: Axial view of computed tomography angiography (CTA) showing compression of oesophagus (white arrow) by the retroesophageal aberrant right subclavian artery (white arrowhead).
Figure 4: Computed tomography angiography (CTA) multi-planar reconstruction (MPR) showing the posterior course of the right subclavian artery (white arrow), crossing the mediastinum and compressing the oesophagus. A. coronal view B. Sagittal view

Disclosure

None.

Introduction

Despite the availability of clinical guidelines, a wide range of alternative Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) eradication regimens continue to be used in routine clinical practice. Data on the frequency and effectiveness of these less frequently prescribed regimens remain limited.

Aims & Methods

Aim: To evaluate the prescription patterns and effectiveness of less frequently prescribed eradication regimens within the European Registry on Helicobacter pylori Management (Hp-EuReg).
Methods: International, multicentre, prospective, non-interventional registry on the management of H. pylori infection, ongoing since 2013. For this analysis, treatment regimens prescribed in fewer than 5% of all cases were classified as 'less frequently prescribed'. Additionally, therapies not previously categorized in the registry database were also included. Treatment effectiveness was assessed using modified intention-to-treat (mITT) and per-protocol (PP) analyses.

Results

Overall, 260 less frequently prescribed regimens were identified, representing 5.5% of all recorded prescriptions (82,510). A total of 2,853 (63%) of these regimens were used as first-line therapy. Among these less frequently prescribed regimens, the most frequently used first-line treatments encompassed bismuth-containing quadruple therapy with PPI–clarithromycin–metronidazole–bismuth (20%), followed by non-bismuth hybrid quadruple therapy with clarithromycin–amoxicillin–metronidazole (9.5%), and dual therapy with PPI–amoxicillin (8.6%). In second-line, the most common regimens were triple therapies, such as the PPI–amoxicillin–moxifloxacin (16%), PPI–clarithromycin–levofloxacin (11%), and PPI–metronidazole–levofloxacin (9.5%). In third-line, the most frequently used regimes were bismuth-based quadruple regimens including PPI–metronidazole–doxycycline–bismuth (27%), followed by triple therapies with PPI–clarithromycin–levofloxacin (6.8%) and PPI–amoxicillin–moxifloxacin (5.6%). In the fourth-line, the most frequent prescriptions were: bismuth-based quadruple therapies including PPI–amoxicillin–rifabutin–bismuth (30%) and PPI–metronidazole–doxycycline–bismuth (11%). Finally, the fifth treatment-line accounted for some less common treatments, such as the dual therapy with PPI–amoxicillin (19%) and the triple therapy with PPI–amoxicillin–bismuth (18%). Effectiveness and frequency of use in first-, second- and third-line of treatment are described in Table 1. Antibiotic-free regimens such as the combination of a PPI with a probiotic —generally Lactobacillus bulgaricus or Lactobacillus reuteri—were prescribed as alternative therapeutic approaches in 104 cases (2.3%), achieving 74% mITT and 76% PP overall effectiveness.
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Conclusion

Among the various less frequently used H. pylori eradication regimens, only a few (such as the PPI-clarithromycin-metronidazole-bismuth regimen and the hybrid regimen including clarithromycin–amoxicillin–metronidazole) achieved first-line eradication rates above 90%. In subsequent treatment lines, effectiveness was highly variable and often suboptimal. These findings highlight the importance of evidence-based treatment selection to optimize treatment outcomes.

Disclosure

Conflict of interest statement
Olga P. Nyssen has served as a speaker or has received research funding from Allergan, Mayoly Spindler, Richen, Biocodex and Juvisé.
Javier P. Gisbert has served as speaker, consultant, and advisory member for or has received research funding from Mayoly, Allergan/Abbvie, Diasorin, Richen, Juvisé, Biocodex.
The remaining authors declare no conflicts of interest.