Utilization of a liver allograft from a hepatitis B surface antigen positive donor.

With today's donor organ shortage, enhanced efforts must be made to utilize organs that previously would have been declined. We report a 26-year-old man with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) coinfection who received a liver transplant from an HBsAg-positive donor. HBV viremia (6,281,185 copies/ml) was seen early posttransplant despite lamivudine prophylaxis, but became negative with addition of adefovir. Virologic analysis revealed predominantly donor HBV strain immediately posttransplant. At 5 months there was an elevation of liver enzymes accompanied by histologic evidence of hepatitis. At this time, HCV-RNA was positive but HBV DNA was undetectable. Treatment with pegylated interferon and ribavirin resulted in sustained clearance of HCV RNA. Two years posttransplant, the patient has normal liver biochemistry and HCV and HBV viral load are undetectable with persistence of HBsAg. Our experience suggests that with effective antiviral therapy, the use of HBsAg seropositive donors is feasible in selected circumstances.

Acute lower gastrointestinal bleeding from a dieulafoy lesion proximal to the anorectal junction post-orthotopic liver transplant.

A 67-year-old woman underwent an orthotopic liver transplantation for end stage liver disease secondary to chronic autoimmune hepatitis. She developed sudden massive hematochezia on post-operative day 23 with hemodynamic compromise. The source of hemorrhage was found at colonoscopy after careful irrigation and inspection to be a dieulafoy lesion situated just proximal to the anorectal junction. Hemostasis was achieved with epinephrine injection and thermal coagulation.

FOCUS: Future of fecal calprotectin utility study in inflammatory bowel disease.

AIM: To evaluate the perspective of gastroenterologists regarding the impact of fecal calprotectin (FC) on the management of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). METHODS: Patients with known IBD or symptoms suggestive of IBD for whom the physician identified that FC would be clinically useful were recruited. Physicians completed an online "pre survey" outlining their rationale for the test. After receipt of the test results, the physicians completed an online "post survey" to portray their perceived impact of the test result on patient management. Clinical outcomes for a subset of patients with follow-up data available beyond the completion of the "post survey" were collected and analyzed. RESULTS: Of 373 test kits distributed, 290 were returned, resulting in 279 fully completed surveys. One hundred and ninety patients were known to have IBD; 147 (77%) with Crohn's Disease, 43 (21%) Ulcerative Colitis and 5 (2%) IBD unclassified. Indications for FC testing included: 90 (32.2%) to differentiate a new diagnosis of IBD from Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), 85 (30.5%) to distinguish symptoms of IBS from IBD in those known to have IBD and 104 (37.2%) as an objective measure of inflammation. FC levels resulted in a change in management 51.3% (143/279) of the time which included a significant reduction in the number of colonoscopies (118) performed (P < 0.001). Overall, 97.5% (272/279) of the time, the physicians found the test sufficiently useful that they would order it again in similar situations. Follow-up data was available for 172 patients with further support for the clinical utility of FC provided. CONCLUSION: The FC test effected a change in management 51.3% of the time and receipt of the result was associated with a reduction in the number of colonoscopies performed.