Calvanese C, Fusaroli P. Endo-hepatology: Why should we do endoscopic ultrasound-guided interventions to the liver that we could do through the skin? World J Gastroenterol 2024; 30(40): 4333-4338 [PMID: 39494095 DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v30.i40.4333]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Pietro Fusaroli, MD, Associate Professor, Gastroenterology Unit, Hospital of Imola, University of Bologna, Via Montericco 4, Imola 40026, Bologna, Italy. pietro.fusaroli@unibo.it
Research Domain of This Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Article-Type of This Article
Editorial
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Gastroenterol. Oct 28, 2024; 30(40): 4333-4338 Published online Oct 28, 2024. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v30.i40.4333
Endo-hepatology: Why should we do endoscopic ultrasound-guided interventions to the liver that we could do through the skin?
Claudio Calvanese, Pietro Fusaroli
Claudio Calvanese, Pietro Fusaroli, Gastroenterology Unit, Hospital of Imola, University of Bologna, Imola 40026, Bologna, Italy
Author contributions: Calvanese C and Fusaroli P contributed to this paper; Calvanese C designed the overall concept and outline of the manuscript; Fusaroli P contributed to the discussion and design of the manuscript; Calvanese C and Fusaroli P contributed to the writing and editing of the manuscript; Fusaroli P revised the manuscript for relevant intellectual content.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflicts of interest for this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Pietro Fusaroli, MD, Associate Professor, Gastroenterology Unit, Hospital of Imola, University of Bologna, Via Montericco 4, Imola 40026, Bologna, Italy. pietro.fusaroli@unibo.it
Received: April 2, 2024 Revised: September 13, 2024 Accepted: September 25, 2024 Published online: October 28, 2024 Processing time: 196 Days and 16.9 Hours
Abstract
Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS)-guided interventions on the liver such as diffuse biopsy and portal pressure gradient measurement are emerging as potential alternatives to percutaneous procedures. The purpose of this editorial was to address all the indications that could potentially make an EUS-guided approach a possible alternative to the percutaneous procedures with respect to the proce-dures that could join the EUS examination such as upper endoscopy for gastro-esophageal varices, pancreaticobiliary investigation with EUS, and other potential advantages in terms of patient safety. The issue of a holistic gastroenterologist approach was also discussed along with the potential for developing clinical research.
Core Tip: Endo-hepatology is a new branch of gastroenterology that integrates skills of advanced endoscopy with hepatology. New endoscopic and endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) techniques have emerged that are tailored for the management of hepatological patients, such as EUS-guided liver biopsy, EUS-guided measurement of the porto-systemic gradient. The potential advantage of performing such procedures from the inside of the stomach and duodenum instead of the outside of the patient, i.e. percutaneously, were discussed.
