Development of a risk score to predict portal vein tumor thrombosis in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Portal vein tumor thrombosis (PVTT) is a common complication of hepatocellular carcinoma and is one of the most negative prognostic factors. The management of patients with PVTT is challenging. The aim of the study was to develop a score predictive of tumor thrombosis. METHODS: Data from a large cohort of 2243 hepatocellular carcinoma patients (all stages) recorded in the Progetto Epatocarcinoma Campania (January 2013-April 2021) database were analyzed. To construct the score, univariate generalized estimated equation models, the bootstrap approach for internal validation, and a regression coefficient-based scoring system were used. RESULTS: PVTT (any location) was found in 14.4% of cases and was related to shorter survival. Males, younger patients, and symptomatic cases were more prevalent among the PVTT group. At multivariate analysis, size ≥5 cm, massive or infiltrative hepatocellular carcinoma growth, and alpha-fetoprotein ≥400 ng/mL were significantly associated with PVTT. A risk prediction score of PVTT based on eight variables was developed. Using a continuous score, the risk was associated with an odds ratio (OR) of 1.30 (1.27-1.34; P  < 0.001). Considering a dichotomous score >8 versus a score ≤8 the OR for PVTT was 11.33 (8.55-15.00; P  < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The risk score for PVTT might be useful for clinicians to optimize hepatocellular carcinoma management by picking out patients with more aggressive cancers and higher mortality rates. Prospective validation of the score is needed before its application in daily clinical practice.

Anthropometric parameters and liver histology influence lipid metabolic changes in HCV chronic hepatitis on direct-acting antiviral treatment.

BACKGROUND: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection affects lipid metabolism. We investigated the impact of direct-acting antiviral (DAA) treatment on lipid metabolism in chronic hepatitis C (CHC), with a focus on the effects of anthropometric parameters and liver histology. We also analyzed the dynamics of metabolic indexes used to estimate cardiovascular risk. METHODS: In 49 patients with CHC treated with DAAs, lipid metabolic changes, anthropometric parameters, liver histology and cardiovascular risk indexes, including triglyceride to HDL ratio (Tr/HDL), fatty liver index (FLI) and visceral adiposity index (VAI) were evaluated at baseline (BL), end of treatment (EOT) and 12 [sustained virological response (SVR) 12] and 24 (SVR24) weeks after EOT. RESULTS: SVR occurred in 96% of cases. Total and LDL cholesterol and ApoB levels increased significantly between BL and EOT (P<0.001, <0.001 and 0.05, respectively) and remained stable thereafter. Total and LDL cholesterol significantly increased only in patients with higher BL waist circumference (P<0.01 and 0.009), fibrosis (P=0.002 and 0.005) and steatosis (P=0.043 and 0.033, respectively). HDL cholesterol significantly rose at SVR24. However, cardiovascular risk indexes (Tr/HDL ratio, FLI and VAI) did not significantly change during DAA treatment and follow up. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with HCV eradication after DAA treatment develop a pro-atherogenic lipid pattern, which varies according to anthropometric parameters and liver histology. However, no increase of cardiovascular risk indexes occurs in the short-term. Total and LDL cholesterol should be monitored long-term in CHC patients cured from infection.

Liver histopathological findings in advanced heart failure: a reappraisal of cardiac cirrhosis concept.

Cardiogenic liver disease is a common yet poorly characterized complication of advanced heart failure (HF), and may impact clinical management in the setting of heart transplant evaluation. In this retrospective study, we describe clinical and histopathological features of liver injury in advanced HF, with a focus on the role of liver biopsy. Included were 45 HF patients, assessed for possible heart transplant, who underwent liver biopsy for suspected liver disease. Median duration of HF symptoms was 5 years. Most patients had stiff hepatomegaly and elevated bilirubin. Viral hepatitis (19 patients, 42.2%) was the most common cause of prior known liver disease. Sinusoidal dilatation was detected in the majority of patients (64.4%). Median necroinflammatory index was 3 and median fibrosis was 1, consistent with a small burden of histologically proven liver disease. Viral hepatitis was the only variable associated with a higher grade of necroinflammation and fibrosis. Nine of the 14 (64.3%) advanced fibrosis/cirrhosis patients had a viral hepatitis infection. Fibrosis was significantly associated with splenomegaly. The MELD score was not correlated with cardiac index. A coarse liver echo-pattern had a 29% positive and 63% negative predictive value for advanced fibrosis/cirrhosis. Severe liver disease is uncommon in patients with advanced HF in the absence of splenomegaly or primary causes of liver disease. Ultrasound data need to be carefully evaluated, as it may overstate the severity of liver disease. Liver biopsy may be needed to accurately stage liver disease before excluding patients from advanced treatment strategies.

Can we go for a shorter treatment course in chronic hepatitis C? More inspiring cases.

Current interest in HCV therapy with direct acting antivirals is focused on shortening treatment length. We managed two cirrhotics who achieved virological cure after 4 weeks of ombitasvir/paritaprevir/ritonavir, dasabuvir, ribavirin treatment. Analysis to identify potential predictive factors for a successful outcome with a shorter treatment course was conducted.

Hepatitis B virus reactivation after heart transplant: Incidence and clinical impact.

BACKGROUND: Occult hepatitis B infection consists of persistence of HBV genomes in hepatocytes,absence of serum HBsAg, low/undetectable serum HBVDNA. Reactivation of HBV infection may occur during immunosuppression, but few data are available in heart transplant. OBJECTIVES: We followed-up heart recipients with or without markers of previous HBV infection,evaluating prevalence of HBV markers, incidence of HBV reactivation and its virological and clinical features. STUDY DESIGN: Heart failure patients listed for heart transplant (2007-2013) were screened for current or past HBV infection. Transplanted patients with past HBV infection (anti-HBc+/±anti-HBs+/HBVDNA-) were followed up as cases, and an equal number of HBV negative patients as controls. Virological reactivation was detected by standard real-time and home-made highly sensitive PCR (surface/core HBVDNA regions). Clinical status and progression were assessed by liver histology, ultrasound or elastography. RESULTS: 67 patients underwent heart transplant, including 4 (5.9%) HBsAg+ subjects. Cases were 11/67 (16.4%). During a median follow-up of 30 months, only one of these 11 patients presented viral reactivation (HBVDNA 209IU/mL) at month 22, and started antiviral treatment. Four other recipients showed virological events of uncertain significance (sensitive PCR-only intermittently positive). Clinical signs of liver disease were observed in only one case at the last follow-up. A nonsignificant difference in survival was observed between cases and all other heart recipients without prior HBV contact (death rate 5/11 vs 15/52, respectively; p=0.097). CONCLUSIONS: HBV genotypic reactivation in HBsAg-/anti-HBc+/HBVDNA- heart recipients is uncommon. Virological events of uncertain significance occur more frequently; their clinical impact seems to be negligible.

Adefovir treatment for chronic hepatitis B in heart transplant recipients.

Chronic hepatitis B is prevalent in the transplant setting and may cause significant complications. Effective control of viral replication is needed. Besides lamivudine, very little data are available on safety and efficacy of other drugs. We describe our experience with adefovir dipivoxil (ADV) in eight heart transplant recipients. Studies included a baseline liver biopsy, thrice-monthly clinical, biochemical, and virological evaluations, including genotyping and viral load, polymerase gene sequencing for resistance mutations, liver and kidney function tests, and liver ultrasound. Of eight patients, six had fibrosis score ≤2 and negative HBeAg and seven had hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotype D. Upon ADV start, median HBV-DNA was 5.8 logs IU/mL and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels were mostly normal. All patients had prior mild-to-moderate renal functional impairment. Seven of eight patients started ADV after a previous course of lamivudine. Five of these seven patients became HBV-DNA undetectable within eight months. One patient with low baseline viremia started ADV de novo and suppressed HBV-DNA. Median treatment duration was 66 months. ADV daily dose was halved in one patient due to renal function worsening. No ALT flares, hypophosphatemia, liver decompensation, liver cancer, or emergence of resistance was observed. Our data suggest that ADV may be a safe and effective rescue treatment for heart transplant recipients with lamivudine-resistant chronic hepatitis B.

High-dose daptomycin for cardiac implantable electronic device-related infective endocarditis.

BACKGROUND: Cardiac implantable electronic device (CIED)-related endocarditis is a growing challenge because of increasing incidence and significant mortality. Current treatment is based on complete hardware removal coupled with long-term administration of effective and safe antimicrobials. Daptomycin at the dose of 6 mg/kg/day has been found to be effective in staphylococcal endocarditis, but limited data exist on CIED endocarditis. Moreover, whether higher doses could be more effective but equally safe in this setting is currently unknown. METHODS: We report here our experience with high-dose daptomycin in the treatment of 25 cases of CIED endocarditis due to staphylococci. RESULTS: Patients were mostly elderly and male, with large lead vegetations and severe comorbidities. Pathogens were Staphylococcus epidermidis (56%), Staphylococcus aureus (28%), and other coagulase-negative staphylococci (16%). Only 4 patients (16%) had a normal pretreatment renal function. The median daptomycin daily dose was 8.3 mg/kg (range, 6.4-10.7). Daptomycin was administered for a median of 20 days (range, 8-52). Percutaneous lead extraction was performed in 88% of patients. Two patients (8%) failed to clear bacteremia. The overall clinical success of treatment was 80%, whereas a complete microbiological success was observed in 92% of patients. Creatine phosphokinase values were monitored and increased above normal in 5 cases (20%). No serious adverse event related to high-dose daptomycin was observed and no patient required discontinuation because of muscle toxicity. CONCLUSIONS: Our experience suggests that high-dose daptomycin may be a safe therapeutic option in staphylococcal CIED endocarditis and may be associated with high microbiological responses and clinical success.

Safety and efficacy of peginterferon alpha plus ribavirin in patients with chronic hepatitis C and coexisting heart disease.

BACKGROUND: Chronic hepatitis C patients with coexisting heart disease are often denied antiviral treatment due to safety concerns. However, this is not evidence-based. AIMS: To evaluate safety and efficacy of pegylated interferon and ribavirin in chronic hepatitis C patients with heart disease. METHODS: Patients with overt heart disease (ischaemic heart disease, prior mechanical heart valve replacement, chronic arrhythmias and cardiomyopathy) and chronic hepatitis C were treated with standard pegylated interferon/ribavirin doses for standard duration. Cardiovascular safety was monitored by electrocardiography, echocardiography and measurement of troponin and B-type natriuretic peptide. RESULTS: Twenty-three patients (65.2% male, median age 57 years, 47.8% genotype 1) were treated. Three patients (13%) suspended treatment prematurely; 52% obtained sustained virological response, 39% relapsed, 9% were non-responders. No serious adverse event was observed. Post-treatment clinical examination, electrocardiography and echocardiography did not show any sign of progression of the pre-existing heart disease. CONCLUSIONS: Treatment with pegylated interferon/ribavirin may be safely offered to carefully selected chronic hepatitis C patients with coexisting, clinically significant heart disease. In these patients, the outcome of antiviral treatment overlaps that observed in other patient subgroups.

Efficacy of caspofungin addition to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole treatment for severe pneumocystis pneumonia in solid organ transplant recipients.

BACKGROUND: Pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia may be a life-threatening opportunistic infection in immunosuppressed solid organ transplant recipients. Despite effective treatment with high-dose trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole and steroids, morbidity is often severe and lethality remains high. New therapeutic approaches are therefore warranted. Caspofungin, a beta-1,3-glucan synthesis inhibitor, has shown activity against the cyst forms of P. jiroveci in experimental animal models. We here report our preliminary clinical experience with caspofungin as an additional drug to the standard trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole regimen. METHODS: Four solid organ transplant patients with severe hypoxemic P. jiroveci pneumonia were treated with the combination of trimethoprim-sulfametoxazole and caspofungin. In two cases, caspofungin was added as salvage treatment due to failure of trimethoprim-sulfametoxazole monotherapy. RESULTS: In these four patients, the use of caspofungin as an additional drug to the standard trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole regimen led to a rapid improvement and a complete cure of pneumonia. No side effects or drug interactions were observed. DISCUSSION: This preliminary clinical experience suggests that the addition of caspofungin to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, which is active against trophic forms, may provide a synergistic activity against P. jiroveci by fully inhibiting the organism life cycle.

Heart transplantation in patients with chronic hepatitis B: clinical evolution, molecular analysis, and effect of treatment.

We evaluated clinical evolution and hepatitis B virus (HBV) molecular changes in heart recipients with chronic HBV infection before transplantation, and studied the effects of lamivudine treatment in patients who experienced HBV reactivation. Nine patients with chronic HBV infection who underwent heart transplantation were investigated. HBV surface/core-promoter/precore/core regions were sequenced. Prior to transplantation, all nine patients had consistently normal ALT and low HBV-DNA levels. Seven experienced HBV reactivation after transplantation (ALT elevated, HBV-DNA>200.000 cps/ml). Lamivudine treatment was initially effective in all patients; three patients during the second year of treatment developed lamivudine resistance-associated mutations (rt-L180M, rt-M204V) with severe disease reactivation, remitted after switch to adefovir treatment. No other significant HBV mutations were identified in the genomic regions studied. Immune suppression is crucial in the reactivation of previous inactive HBV infection and in the liver disease progression in heart recipients. Preemptive lamivudine treatment could be useful in the early management of these patients.

Risk factors for "major" embolic events in hospitalized patients with infective endocarditis.

BACKGROUND: Infective endocarditis often is complicated by embolic events after hospital admission. Identifying patients at higher risk may improve the disease outcome. This study was aimed at identifying predictors of embolic risk among the clinical and laboratory data obtained on hospital admission in patients diagnosed as having definite infective endocarditis according to the Duke criteria. METHODS: Ninety-four patients were enrolled in a prospective study. The results of hematologic, echocardiographic, and microbiological investigations were analyzed, using statistical methods as appropriate. Multivariate analysis was applied to variables significantly associated with embolism in univariate analysis. RESULTS: Forty-six percent of patients had a major embolic complication after admission. No association was found between embolism and sex, site of infection, or microorganism involved. Patients with embolism were significantly younger, had larger vegetation, and showed a significantly higher level of serum C-reactive protein and lower albumin concentrations than those without embolism. Young age, larger vegetation size, and high levels of C-reactive protein were the independent variables associated with an increased incidence of embolic events in the multivariate logistic regression analysis. CONCLUSIONS: Our data indicate that patients with infective endocarditis with young age and/or with large vegetation and/or with high serum levels of C-reactive protein are at increased risk of major embolic complications during the in-hospital course of the disease.