No abstract

IDH is not an infrequent complication of endoscopic duodenal biopsy, especially in patients who undergo BMT. Endoscopists should be especially careful during the duodenal biopsy procedure in these patients. With no early perforation due to post-biopsy IDH reported, the prognosis is good and conservative management generally leads to resolution of the symptoms in 2 to 3 weeks.

Preliminary Phase I trials have shown iodine 131 (131I)‐Lipiodol (ethiodized oil; Laboratoires Guerbet, Aulnay‐sous‐Bois, France) to be well tolerated and most likely effective in the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In this multicenter Phase II trial, the authors tested the feasibility and reproducibility of this treatment in other medical institutions and evaluated its efficacy in 50 patients with unresectable Stage I or II HCC, by the classification of Okuda et al. The authors studied 47 men and 3 women (63.9 ± M 7.1 years old) with Stage I (n = 18) or II (n = 32) HCC, by the classification of Okuda et al., which was verified by histologic findings (n = 25), cytologic findings (n = 11), or association of a tumor with alpha‐fetoprotein serum values greater than μg500 /tg/l (n = 14). This multicenter trial (1) confirmed that the 131I‐Lipiodol treatment is well tolerated; (2) showed that there is a high reproducibility of results with respect to other institutions and an objective tumor response in 40% of the cases; and (3) indicated the necessity of performing a randomized controlled study.

Total laparoscopic approach for esophagectomy and esophageal replacement by Gavriliu's anisoperistaltic gastric tube is a feasible technique allowing to shorten the postoperative mechanical ventilation duration and save parietal damage often present in these patients requiring multiple surgery. It appears to have a good long-term tolerance, although the immediate postoperative complication rate remains as high as the open technique.

In the case of dysphagia in children, a swallow barium exploration with lateral incidence should look for PVS. Conversely to adults, an endoscopic dilation is frequently necessary to control dysphagia in children.