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Gallbladder, Bile Duct and Pancreas Disorders: Current Challenges, New Perspectives and Innovative Techniques

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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Gallbladder, bile duct and pancreas disorders are highly frequent and characterized by heterogeneity. Innovate technologies are used for the diagnosis and management of these disorders, allowing for the medical community to identify, locate and treat them. Entering this field, artificial intelligence is offering solutions to difficult cases of clinical practice. Additionally, minimally invasive surgical and endoscopic procedures, as well as robotic surgery, render higher chances for the successful management of the patients of these disorders. Moreover, oncology treatments are evolving, employing a wide range of biological medicines and opening a new era in therapy for gallbladder, bile duct and pancreas disorders.

The aim of this Special Issue is to evaluate and discuss current challenges, new perspectives and innovative techniques for gallbladder, bile duct and pancreas disorders, including differential diagnosis, pharmacotherapy, treatment, final outcome and prognosis.

We invite colleagues around the world to report their experience and knowledge with original studies, reviews, case reports or communications in current challenges, new perspectives and innovative techniques relating disorders of the gallbladder, bile ducts and pancreas for this Special Issue of our journal, in order to support this dominant research area.

You may choose our Joint Special Issue in Medicina.

Dr. Daniel Paramythiotis
Prof. Dr. Robert Grützmann
Prof. Dr. Vasileios Papaziogas
Dr. Dimitrios Raptis
Dr. Eleni Karlafti
Guest Editors

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

pancreas
biliary tract
pancreatobiliary diseases
pancreas neoplasm
tumor
ERCP
EUS
management
therapy
technique
surgery

Published Papers (1 paper)

Other

22 pages, 3683 KiB

Open AccessSystematic Review

Comparative Assessment of Endoscopic Ultrasound-Guided Biopsies vs. Percutaneous Biopsies of Pancreatic Lesions: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Diagnostic Performance

by Daniel Paramythiotis, Eleni Karlafti, Dimitrios Tsavdaris, Konstantinos Arvanitakis, Adonis A. Protopapas, Georgios Germanidis, Leonidas Kougias, Adam Hatzidakis, Christos Savopoulos and Antonios Michalopoulos

J. Clin. Med. 2024, 13(11), 3108; https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm13113108 - 25 May 2024

Viewed by 662

Abstract

Introduction: Pancreatic cancer ranks as the fourth deadliest form of cancer. However, it is essential to note that not all pancreatic masses signal primary malignancy. Therefore, it is imperative to establish the correct differential diagnosis, a process further supported by pre-operative biopsy procedures. This meta-analysis aims to compare the diagnostic performance of two minimally invasive biopsy approaches for pancreatic tissue sampling: percutaneous biopsies guided by computed tomography or ultrasound, and transduodenal biopsies guided by endoscopic ultrasound (EUS). Methods: A systematic literature search was conducted in the MEDLINE and Scopus databases. The included studies analyzed the diagnostic performance of the two biopsy methods, and they were assessed for risk of bias using the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies–2 tool. Statistical analysis was carried out using the RevMan and MetaDisc software packages. Results: The statistical analysis of the results demonstrated the superiority of the percutaneous approach. Specifically, the pooled sensitivity, specificity, LR+, LR−and DOR for the percutaneous approach were 0.896 [95% CI: 0.878–0.913], 0.949 [95% CI: 0.892–0.981], 9.70 [95% CI: 5.20–18.09], 0.20 [95% CI: 0.12–0.32] and 68.55 [95% CI: 32.63–143.98], respectively. The corresponding values for EUS-guided biopsies were 0.806 [95% CI: 0.775–0.834], 0.955 [95% CI: 0.926–0.974], 12.04 [95% CI: 2.67–54.17], 0.24 [95% CI: 0.15–0.39] and 52.56 [95% CI: 13.81–200.09], respectively. Nevertheless, it appears that this statistical superiority is also linked to the selection bias favoring larger and hence more readily accessible tumors during percutaneous biopsy procedures. Conclusions: Concisely, our meta-analysis indicates the statistical superiority of the percutaneous approach. However, selecting the optimal biopsy method is complex, influenced by factors like patient and tumor characteristics, clinical resources, and other relevant considerations. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Gallbladder, Bile Duct and Pancreas Disorders: Current Challenges, New Perspectives and Innovative Techniques)

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