Prospective Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Jan 21, 2015; 21(3): 977-981
Published online Jan 21, 2015. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v21.i3.977
Paclitaxel-eluting balloon dilation of biliary anastomotic stricture after liver transplantation
Anna Hüsing, Holger Reinecke, Vito R Cicinnati, Susanne Beckebaum, Christian Wilms, Hartmut H Schmidt, Iyad Kabar
Anna Hüsing, Vito R Cicinnati, Susanne Beckebaum, Christian Wilms, Hartmut H Schmidt, Iyad Kabar, Department of Transplant Medicine, University Hospital Münster, 48149 Münster, Germany
Holger Reinecke, Division of Angiology, Department of Cardiology and Angiology, University Hospital Münster, 48149 Münster, Germany
Author contributions: Hüsing A, Reinecke H, Schmidt HH and Kabar I designed the study; Kabar I, Wilms C and Hüsing A performed the study; Hüsing A, Cicinnati VR, Wilms C, Beckebaum S and Kabar I collected the patient data; Hüsing A, Beckebaum S, Cicinnati VR, Reinecke H and Kabar I analyzed the data; Kabar I, Hüsing A, Cicinnati VR and Schmidt HH wrote the paper.
Open-Access: 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/
Correspondence to: Iyad Kabar, MD, Department of Transplant Medicine, University Hospital Münster, Albert-Schweitzer-Campus 1, Gebäude A14, 48149 Münster, Germany. iyad.kabar@ukmuenster.de
Telephone: +49-251-8344957 Fax: +49-251-8357771
Received: July 8, 2014
Peer-review started: July 9, 2014
First decision: August 15, 2014
Revised: September 2, 2014
Accepted: October 14, 2014
Article in press: October 15, 2014
Published online: January 21, 2015
Core Tip

Core tip: Biliary anastomotic stricture is common after liver transplantation and can significantly impair both organ and patient survival. Endoscopic treatment of an anastomotic stricture usually requires many interventions before long-term resolution is achieved. This study investigated the safety and efficacy of an innovative approach using endoscopic therapy with a paclitaxel-eluting balloon for the treatment of biliary anastomotic stricture after liver transplantation. Our data are very promising and show excellent long-term results. Furthermore, use of a paclitaxel-eluting balloon seems to reduce the number of endoscopic interventions needed to achieve sustained resolution of the stricture.