A 56-year-old male with metastatic unresectable cholangiocarcinoma presented to our clinic with worsening nausea and vomiting. Prior to presentation, the patient underwent placement of a palliative metal biliary stent and an uncovered self-expandable metal stents (UCSEMS) through the pylorus and duodenum for gastric outlet obstruction (GOO) from tumor burden. However, the patient subsequently d...

Self-expanding metal stents (SEMS) seem to be the optimal choice for benign esophageal disorders, especially those not associated with a stricture, such as anastomotic leaks, iatrogenic perforations, and fistulas. On the other hand stent embedding can be an important limitation of SEMS placement, because this precludes safe stent removal [1]. In fact, in the literature there are only a few case...

Very late stent thrombosis is a rare and not-well-understood complication after bare metal stent implantation. It usually presents as an ST elevation acute coronary syndrome and it is associated with high rates of morbidity and mortality. Pathophysiologic mechanisms are not well defined; nevertheless, recent studies have proposed a neoatherosclerotic process as the triggering mechanism. We pres...

In this issue of the Netherlands Heart Journal, IJsselmuiden et al. present a multicentre randomised control trial in which the STENTYS self-expanding bare metal stent (BMS) is compared with the STENTYS paclitaxel-eluting stent (PES) in saphenous vein grafts (SVGs). Primary endpoint of the trial was late lumen loss at six months follow-up, secondary endpoint was major adverse cardiac events (MA...

Atherosclerotic iliac artery disease is increasingly being treated with endovascular techniques. A number of new stent technologies can be utilized with high long-term patency, including self-expanding stents, balloon-expandable stents, and covered stents, but comparative data on these stent types and in more complex lesions are lacking. This article provides a review of currently available ili...

BACKGROUND Most patients with malignant common bile duct strictures are suited only for palliation of jaundice by placement of a polyethylene (PE) stent using an endoscopic retrograde cholangiographic technique. Occlusion of these stents occurs after 3 to 4 months, whereas uncovered self-expanding metal stents (SEMS) remain open twice as long. The initial higher cost of the latter might be bala...

Background and study aims  Endoscopic ultrasound-guided choledochoduodenostomy (EUS-CDS) is an alternative to percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage (PTBD) for patients with malignant distal biliary obstruction in whom ERCP has failed. We studied technical success, clinical success, stent patency rate and occurrence of adverse events in patients undergoing EUS-CDS with partially-covered sel...

BACKGROUND AND STUDY AIMS Biodegradable (BD) esophageal stents were recently developed mainly for refractory benign strictures, but experience and available literature are limited. PATIENTS AND METHODS This was a retrospective observational study. All patients who had BD stents inserted due to refractory benign esophageal strictures or malignant strictures, or were awaiting radical radiothera...

Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) has the potential to safely guide the creation of gastrointestinal anastomoses [1]. Different methods have been studied in animal models [2] and more recently EUS-guided gastroenterostomy with a lumen-apposing stent has been described in two small patient series [3,4]. A 58-year-old woman with junctional adenocarcinomawho had undergone total gastrectomywith distal es...

OBJECTIVES We aimed to assess the efficacy of self-expanding metal stent (SEMS) implantation as palliative treatment for malignant colorectal obstruction. METHODS We retrospectively reviewed the records of patients with malignant colorectal obstruction who underwent SEMS insertion as palliative treatment in our hospital between March 2013 and December 2016. We analyzed demographic, clinical, ...