Digestive System
Online Learning Platform

Paquet (Or Modified Paquet that contains 3 categories insted of 4) is the classification used for esophageal varices. Zargar is used for caustic injury

EREFS (EoE reference endoscopic score) is used to grade Eosinophilic esophagitis.

Kodsi is used for staging Candidiasis:

Grade I, a few raised white plaques up to 2 mm in size without edema or ulceration.

Grade II, multiple raised white plaques greater than 2 mm in size without ulceration.

Grade III, confluent, linear, and nodular elevated plaques.

Grade IV, finding of grade III with increased friability of the mucous membranes and occasional narrowing of the lumen

Misty mesentery refers to a non-specific radiological finding characterized by increased attenuation within the mesenteric fat on computed tomography  imaging.  It mimics mistiness as localised fat stranding in the mesentery.  Many processes can lead to the appearance including infiltration by inflammatory cells, oedema, lymphatic accumulation, haemorrhage, tumour infiltration, and fibrosis.  Tipically reflects mesentery panniculitis  ( rare  benign condition characterized by chronic inflammation  of adipose tissue mainly of the small bowel mesentery) But can be the results of any inflammatory or neoplasic process. That is why it is needed to consider also vasculitis, lymphomas, inflammatory process or GI neoplasia.

ALD is the most common diagnose on referral for liver transplant in men but the second for women after MASLD.  MASLD is the most rapidly increasing indication for liver transplant worldwide.

Audit C score has 3 questions and if score is 5 or more, should prompt the full AUDIT of 10 questions.  Most questions ask about the past year alcohol habits. In a full AUDIT , any 15 or above represents high risk of alcohol dependence.

Number 3 is correct but not universal. A standard drink in US contains 14g, 10g in many EU countries and 8g in the UK. EASL advices to standardise to 10g (1 unit) but this is down to the individual countries. https://auditscreen.org/

Delirium tremens is a form of severe withdrawal syndrome in which, long term alcohol has chronically bound to GABA receptors and modified its expression( GABA is the inhibitory neurotransmitter which normally reduces neuronal excitability) . This leads to  GABA downregulation of α1- and α3-containing GABA-A receptors (Liang and Olsen, 2014). GABAA receptor downregulation may contribute to anxiety and shakes of withdrawal once alcohol is not present in the nervous system. Also, chronic hyperestimulation of the GABA system by alcohol leads to brain mechanism of up-regulation of the postsynaptic N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) type of glutamate receptor, which mediates the postsynaptic excitatory effects of glutamate to counteract this inhibitory effect of GABA, and once alcohol is suppressed this excitatory system takes over causing autonomic hyperactivity, tachicardia, cardiovascular collapse, seizures or even comma and death.

Despite they all are good options that could be considered. We need to see:

• Size (abut 12-13mm in size)
• Mucosal pattern (looks like sessile serrated lession or SSP-  with clouded surface and indistictive borders - see  WASP classification - : The lesion has NO suspicious areas of submucosal invasion
• Shape- 0-IIa of Paris classification (despite the name sessile serrated lesion, this is the nomenclature for that type of serrated lesions, although the majority of them are in fact flat, not sessile)
• Position- Right vs left colon (risk of perforation,  lesion is easy accesible or not in case of delayed bleed)

With all in mind, the most difficult option would be cold snare as >10mm and having broad base, it would be difficult to fully grasp the tissue, close and cut through with cold snare. ESGE guidelines recommend cold snare in small (<10mm ) and in >10mm they suggest hot polypectomy or piecemeal cold snare resection.

So the options would be 1) Lifting and use the cold snare to resect either en bloc if feasible, or most likely piecemeal 2) Do the same but using diathermy with a hot snare or 3) do not lift and use underwater EMR, which probably would allow to grab the lesion en bloc, completely in one go with a 15mm snare. Despite ESGE recommends underwater EMR in selected cases >20mm, realistically if we want en bloc resection, it is either hot snare or underwater EMR.

Note that cold EMR is also a good option for SSL, has an excellent safety profile with less adverse events compared to hot EMR, and less residual rate (1% in cold vs 4.2% in hot) in serrated lesions, however requires some level of practice and getting used to a slighly more bleeding field.

It is not 2 times higher, it is actually > 10 times higher!!

This is the reason ADR is probably  the most important surrogate marker of a good  quality colonoscopy, (others are bowel preparation, caecal intubation and withdrawal time) and we need to maintain ADR  at least >20%

Whenever an HCC (Hepatocelullar carcinoma) is resected in an early starge, 5-year recurrence occurs in up to 60-70% of the cases,  either as a result of intrahepatic metastases (true recurrent disease) or de novo cancer in the remaining cirrhotic liver .  However, similar rates of reccurence occurs if we use ablation instead of surgical resection (  between 60% and 85% recurrence with ablation) via the same mechanisms (either incomplete tumor erradication, or new tumor formation)

5-year recurrence after liver transplant is way lower (8-20%) and of course varies depending on the tumoral burden --> potential microvascular invasion at the time of the transplant.

See BSG guidelines

ESGE recommends offering treatment to all the patients with CBD stones (symptomatic or not) who are fit enough to undergo procedure.
This is true that we should explain always the option of intervention, and we should at least talk about risks of complication from leaving untreated biliary stones (Roughly about 25%  - biliary colic, pancreatitis, cholangitis- vs 12% if we clear the bile stones) this is  based on this  Gallrisk sweddish cohort   where they followed 3969 patients with untreated CBD stones, during follow-up ranging from 0 to 4 years. 

In summary: Explain why there is an indication to treat, which risks ERCP associates, what the alternatives may be  (ie Cholecystectomy plus surgical bile duct exploration in the same setting when approppriate) and their own risks.  And last but not least, explain the alternative of not treating and only monitoring, and the risks of this approach as well.