Both plastic and metal stents used for symptom relief in patients with malignant biliary obstruction have limitations. Cost-effectiveness, safety and patient prognosis should guide stent selection.

Magnetic resonance (MR) enterography is a radiation-sparing alternative to CT with a high sensitivity for active disease. A recent study shows it is well-tolerated in pediatric IBD patients age 9 and older.

Mayo Clinic establishes IBD biobank
A new biobank unifies research at all four Mayo Clinic campuses in an effort to discover and validate serological biomarkers for inflammatory bowel disease.

MRE accurately detects all stages of liver fibrosis
A noninvasive alternative to liver biopsy, magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) has high sensitivity and specificity for distinguishing fibrotic from normal liver tissue, discriminating between mild and moderate disease, and detecting advanced fibrosis.

See all Digestive Disease Clinical Trials at Mayo Clinic

Jan. 27-31, 2014, in Kauai, Hawaii
This postgraduate course updates internists, internist-subspecialists and other primary health care providers on selected internal medicine topics, including some of the most common problems encountered in clinical practice.

March 13-16, 2014, in Orlando, Fla.
Designed for physicians and other health care providers in gastroenterology and hepatology, this course discusses new approaches to the diagnosis and management of gastrointestinal and liver diseases.

Aug. 18-19, 2014, in Rochester, Minn.
This course prepares health care professionals to respond to current technological challenges, including electronic medical records, patient portals, social media communication and patient interaction with medical technology.

See all Gastroenterology Continuous Professional Development courses

New Grand Rounds presentations are available online

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• Mayo Clinic in Minnesota
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• Online Referrals

• Digestive Disease Clinical Trials at Mayo Clinic
• Mayo School of Continuous Professional Development