Balloon dilatation of the papilla of Vater to allow biliary stone passage

Gruntzig angioplasty dilatation of an esophageal stricture in an infant

“…In adults, Gruntzig angioplasty balloon catheters have been used in the dilatation of narrowed blood vessels [1], bile ducts [2,3], ampulla of vater [4], biliary-enteric anastomoses [5,6], and esophageal strictures [7]. In children, there have been fewer reports of the use of Gruntzig balloons but they have been used successfully to dilate bilial3r [8] and esophageal strictures [9].…”

Balloon dilatation of benign postsurgical biliary-enteric anastomotic strictures

“…More recently, Martin et al [4] reported 2 cases successfully treated using the Grfintzig balloon catheter. Additional reports have described the use of balloon dilatation for benign and malignant strictures, as well as for removal of CBD stones [5][6][7].…”

Refining papillary balloon dilation: Less is better!

“…For, in 1981, it was Centola, an interventional radi-ologist unarmed with surgeon's knife or endoscopist's sphincterotome, who displayed the ingenuity to dilate the papilla with an angioplasty balloon in order to extract a bile duct stone. 1 The first report of endoscopic papillary balloon dilation followed in 1982, 2 and this culminated in a series of reports on balloon dilation for successful extraction of bile duct stones over the ensuing years. 3 Papillary balloon dilation (PBD) or endoscopic sphincteroplasty was thus born.…”

“…Many outbreaks of epidemic hepatitis previously ascribed to hepatitis A virus (HAV) were in fact caused by hepatitis E virus (HEV). 1 Like HAV, HEV is mainly transmitted by the fecal-oral route and is associated with fecal contamination of water supplies, but person-to-person transmission appears less common, and the attack rate in adults is higher than in children. With the widespread use of hepatitis A and B vaccines and routine screening of hepatitis C virus (HCV) of donated blood worldwide, the incidences of hepatitis A, B and C are decreasing globally.…”