Primary Prophylaxis to Prevent the Development of Hepatic Encephalopathy in Cirrhotic Patients with Acute Variceal Bleeding.

Background and Aim: Variceal bleeding is the second most important precipitating factor related to the development of episodic hepatic encephalopathy; but to date there are no recommendations to prevent this complication. The aim of this study was to compare if primary prophylaxis with lactulose or L-ornithine L-aspartate or rifaximin, in cirrhotic patients with variceal bleeding, is better than placebo for avoiding the development of hepatic encephalopathy. Methods: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02158182) which included cirrhotic patients with variceal bleeding, without minimal or clinical hepatic encephalopathy at admission. Findings: 87 patients were randomized to one of four groups. The basal characteristics were similar between groups. Comparatively with placebo, the frequency with regard to the development of hepatic encephalopathy was as follows: lactulose (54.5% versus 27.3%; OR = 0.3, 95% CI 0.09-1.0; P = 0.06); L-ornithine L-aspartate (54.5% versus 22.7%, OR = 0.2, 95% CI 0.06-0.88; P = 0.03); rifaximin (54.5% versus 23.8%; OR = 0.3, 95% CI 0.07-0.9; P = 0.04). There was no significant difference between the three groups receiving any antiammonium drug (P = 0.94). In the group receiving lactulose, 59.1% had diarrhea, and 45.5% had abdominal discomfort, bloating, and flatulence. Two patients (10%) treated with lactulose and a patient (4.5%) in the placebo group developed spontaneous bacterial peritonitis due to E. coli; one of them died due to recurrent variceal bleeding. There were no other adverse effects. Conclusions: Antiammonium drugs, particularly L-ornithine L-aspartate and rifaximin, proved to be effective in preventing the development of hepatic encephalopathy in those cirrhotic patients with variceal bleeding.

Mean platelet volume as a novel predictor of systemic inflammatory response in cirrhotic patients with culture-negative neutrocytic ascites.

AIM: To identify a mean platelet volume (MPV) cutoff value which should be able to predict the presence of bacterial infection. METHODS: An observational, analytic, retrospective study. We evaluated medical records of cirrhotic patients who were hospitalized from January 2012 to January 2014 at the Gastroenterology Department of "Hospital General de México Dr. Eduardo Liceaga", we included 51 cirrhotic patients with ascites fluid infection (AFI), and 50 non-infected cirrhotic patients as control group. Receiver operator characteristic curves were used to identify the best cutoff value of several parameters from hematic cytometry, including MPV, to predict the presence of ascites fluid infection. RESULTS: Of the 51 cases with AFI, 48 patients (94.1%) had culture-negative neutrocytic ascites (CNNA), 2 (3.9%) had bacterial ascites, and one (2%) had spontaneous bacterial peritonitis. Infected patients had greater count of leucocytes and polymorphonuclear cells, greater levels of MPV and cardiac frequency (P < 0.0001), and lower mean arterial pressure compared with non-infected patients (P = 0.009). Leucocytes, polymorphonuclear count, MPV and cardiac frequency resulted to be good or very good predictive variables of presence of AFI in cirrhotic patients (area under the receiving operating characteristic > 0.80). A cutoff MPV value of 8.3 fl was the best to discriminate between cirrhotic patients with AFI and those without infection. CONCLUSION: Our results support that MPV can be an useful predictor of systemic inflammatory response syndrome in cirrhotic patients with AFI, particularly CNNA.

Metadoxine improves the three- and six-month survival rates in patients with severe alcoholic hepatitis.

AIM: To evaluate the impact of metadoxine (MTD) on the 3- and 6-mo survival of patients with severe alcoholic hepatitis (AH). METHODS: This study was an open-label clinical trial, performed at the "Hospital General de México, Dr. Eduardo Liceaga". We randomized 135 patients who met the criteria for severe AH into the following groups: 35 patients received prednisone (PDN) 40 mg/d, 35 patients received PDN+MTD 500 mg three times daily, 33 patients received pentoxifylline (PTX) 400 mg three times daily, and 32 patients received PTX+MTD 500 mg three times daily. The duration of the treatment for all of the groups was 30 d. RESULTS: In the groups treated with the MTD, the survival rate was higher at 3 mo (PTX+MTD 59.4% vs PTX 33.3%, P = 0.04; PDN+MTD 68.6% vs PDN 20%, P = 0.0001) and at 6 mo (PTX+MTD 50% vs PTX 18.2%, P = 0.01; PDN+MTD 48.6% vs PDN 20%, P = 0.003) than in the groups not treated with MTD. A relapse in alcohol intake was the primary independent factor predicting mortality at 6 mo. The patients receiving MTD maintained greater abstinence than those who did not receive it (74.5% vs 59.4%, P = 0.02). CONCLUSION: MTD improves the 3- and 6-mo survival rates in patients with severe AH. Alcohol abstinence is a key factor for survival in these patients. The patients who received the combination therapy with MTD were more likely to maintain abstinence than those who received monotherapy with either PDN or PTX.

Quiste congénito no parasitario del bazo: presentación de un caso y revisión de la literatura / Non parastitic congenital spleen cyst: prensetation of one case and review literature

Los quistes congénitos no parasitarios del bazo constituyen una rareza clínica. Se informa del primer caso en el Servicio de gastroenterología Médico-Quirúrgica detectado en un lapso de 50 años en el Hospital General de México en una joven de 19 años, la cual tenía sensación de plenitud posprandial inmediata, dolor abdominal y una masa en cuadrante superior izquierdo del abdomen. El mejor método diagnóstico por imagen fue la tomografía axial computarizada. El procedimiento quirúrgico de elección descrito en la literatura mundial es la esplenectomía parcial, ya que se debe preservar tejido esplénico para evitar infecciones futuras por alteraciones en la inmunidad humoral y celular. En nuestro caso fue posible la realización de esplenectomía total debido a que se encontró un bazo accesorio cerca del hilio esplénico con el cual se garantizó la presencia de tejido esplénico que cumplirá las funciones inmunológicas linfocitarias. La evolución postoperatoria fue satisfactoria. El reporte histopatológico confirmó la presencia de un epitelio cuboide en la pared del quiste

Diagnóstico por imagen de tuberculosis de colon: presentación de un caso clínico / Imaging of colonic tuberculosis. Clinical case

La tuberculosis gastrointestinal y peritoneal constituyen problemas comunes en países en vías de desarrollo. Se estima que diez millones de nuevos casos de tuberculosis activa ocurren anualmente. El aparato digestivo ocupa el sexto lugar dentro de la frecuencia de sitios afectados por la tuberculosis extrapulmonar, después de la lesión linfática, genitourinaria, ósea, miliar y meníngea. Se presenta el caso clínico de un paciente con tuberculosis pulmonar activa de diseminación miliar que tuvo afectación al colon formado estenosis y ulceración, así como extensas fístulas anoperineales