Delayed hemorrhage following endoscopic retrograde sphincterotomy for choledocholithiasis

To define the clinical significance of delayed postsphincterotomy hemorrhage, we reviewed 476 consecutive ERCP procedures performed over a three-year period. Of 250 patients who underwent endoscopic sphincterotomy (ES), five (2%) developed postprocedure hemorrhage, two of whom had immediate, self-limited bleeding that resolved after endoscopic injection of epinephrine and did not require transfusion. The other three had delayed hemorrhage characterized by: onset 20–48 hr after the procedure, melena without hematemesis as the index clinical manifestation of bleeding, and atraumatic balloon extraction of common duct stones. Transfusion of 2–6 units of packed erythrocytes was necessary in each and one patient required surgical hemostasis. Delayed hemorrhage following ERS is an important, frequently severe complication to remember when contemplating performing ERS as an outpatient procedure.     

Clinicopathological analysis of papillary thyroid cancer with PIK3CA alterations in a Middle Eastern population

CONTEXT: Genetic aberration in phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/AKT pathway has been detected in numerous and diverse human cancers. PIK3CA, which encodes for the catalytic subunit of p110alpha of PI3K, is amplified in some cases of papillary thyroid cancer (PTC). Mutations in the PIK3CA have also been identified in thyroid cancers and, although relatively common in anaplastic thyroid carcinoma, are uncommon in PTC. OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to investigate genetic alterations like PIK3CA gene mutation, PIK3CA amplification, RAS, and RAF mutations and to further explore the relationship of these genetic alterations with various clinicopathological characteristics in Middle Eastern PTC. DESIGN: We used the fluorescence in situ hybridization technique for analysis of PIK3CA amplification from 536 PTC cases, and selected amplified samples were further validated by real-time quantitative PCR. Mutation analysis was done by direct DNA sequencing of PIK3CA, N2-RAS, and BRAF genes. RESULTS: PIK3CA amplification was seen in 265 of 499 PTC cases analyzed (53.1%); PIK3CA gene mutations in four of 207 PTC (1.9%); N2-RAS mutations in 16 of 265 PTC (6%); and BRAF mutations in 153 of 296 PTC (51.7%). N-RAS mutations were-associated with an early stage (P = 0.0465) and lower incidence of extrathyroidal extension (P = 0.027), whereas BRAF mutations were-associated with metastasis (P = 0.0274) and poor disease-free survival (P = 0.0121) in PTCs. CONCLUSION: A higher incidence of PIK3CA alterations and the possible synergistic effect of PIK3CA alterations and BRAF mutations suggest their major role in Middle Eastern PTC tumorigenesis and argue for therapeutic targeting of PI3K/AKT and MAPK pathways.