Direct Single-Operator Cholangioscopy and Intraductal Ultrasonography in Patients with Indeterminate Biliary Strictures: A Single Center Experience

Abstract

The evaluation of biliary strictures poses a challenge due to the low sensitivity of standard diagnostic approaches, but the advent of direct single-operator cholangioscopy (DSOC) has revolutionized this paradigm. Our study aimed to assess the diagnostic performance of DSOC and DSOC-targeted biopsies, intraductal ultrasound (IDUS), and standard brush cytology in patients with indeterminate biliary strictures (IBS). We reviewed patients who underwent advanced diagnostic evaluation for IBS at our endoscopy unit from January 2018 to December 2022, all of whom had previously undergone at least one endoscopic attempt to characterize the biliary stricture. Final diagnoses were established based on surgical pathology and/or clinical and radiological follow-up spanning at least 12 months. A total of 57 patients, with a mean age of 67.2 ± 10.0 years, were included, with a mean follow-up of 18.2 ± 18.1 months. The majority of IBS were located in the distal common bile duct (45.6%), with malignancy confirmed in 35 patients (61.4%). DSOC and IDUS demonstrated significantly higher accuracies (89.5% and 82.7%, respectively) compared to standard cytology (61.5%, p < 0.05). Both DSOC visualization and IDUS exhibited optimal diagnostic yields in differentiating IBS with an acceptable safety profile.