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Objective To investigate the risk factors for rebleeding after emergency esophageal variceal ligation (EVL) in patients with liver cirrhosis. Methods A retrospective analysis was performed for the clinical and laboratory data of 290 patients with liver cirrhosis who underwent emergency EVL in The Fifth Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital from January 2016 to December 2019, and according to the presence or absence of rebleeding within 1-year follow-up, they were divided into rebleeding group and non-rebleeding group. The t -test was used for comparison of normally distributed continuous data between two groups, and the Wilcoxon rank sum test was used for comparison of non-normally distributed continuous data between two groups; the chi-square test was used for comparison of categorical data between two groups. A multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed with the statistically significant factors as independent variables to screen out the independent risk factors for rebleeding after emergency EVL, and the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was plotted to obtain the indices for predicting the probability of rebleeding and establish a predictive model. Results The univariate analysis showed that there were significant differences between the two groups in platelet count ( t =-1.888, P =0.047), Child-Pugh score ( χ 2 =5.975, P =0.049), albumin level ( t =-2.229, P =0.029), and splenic vein diameter ( t =3.808, P =0.001). The multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that Child-Pugh score (odds ratio [ OR ]=0.280, 95% confidence interval [ CI ]: 0.108-0.729, P =0.009), splenic vein diameter ( OR =1.549, 95% CI : 1.197-2.005, P =0.001) and albumin level ( OR =0.832, 95% CI : 0.729-0.949, P =0.006) were independent influencing factors for rebleeding after EVL. The predictive model based on these three factors had an area under the ROC curve of 0.796, with a sensitivity of 83.7% and a specificity of 74.5% at the cut-off value of -0.086. Conclusion Child-Pugh score, albumin level, and splenic vein diameter are independent risk factors for rebleeding after emergency EVL, and the combination of the three indices has the highest sensitivity and specificity in predicting rebleeding.
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ObjectiveTo investigate the association of liver stiffness measurement (LSM) and serum biochemical parameters with hepatic steatosis, liver inflammation, and liver fibrosis in patients with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). MethodsA total of 520 patients with NASH who were treated in The Fifth Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital from January 2007 to December 2018 were enrolled, and according to body mass index (BMI) with a cut-off value of 28 kg/m2, the patients were divided into obese group with 151 patients and non-obese group with 369 patients. All patients underwent liver biopsy, and LSM was measured within 3 days before biopsy. Serum biochemical parameters and general clinical data were collected before liver biopsy, and the noninvasive indices aspartate aminotransferase to platelet ratio index (APRI) and fibrosis-4 (FIB-4) were calculated. The t-test was used for comparison of normally distributed continuous between groups, the nonparametric Mann-Whitney U test was used for comparison of non-normally distributed continuous between groups; the chi-square test was used for comparison of categorical data between groups. A Spearman rank correlation analysis was also performed. ResultsAlanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase, LSM, controlled attenuation parameter (CAP), spleen length, and APRI gradually increased with the increase in BMI (all P＜0.05). The Spearman correlation analysis showed that LSM, ALT, BMI, and CAP were positively correlated with the degree of hepatic steatosis (r=0.263, 0.327, 0.184, and 0.452, all P＜0.05); LSM, ALT, and CAP were positively correlated with the degree of liver inflammation (r=0.357, 0.278, and 0.121, all P＜0.05); LSM, ALT, BMI, and CAP were positively correlated with the degree of liver fibrosis (r=0.500, 0.216, 0.248, and 0.101, all P＜0.05); age was negatively correlated with the degree of hepatic steatosis, liver inflammation, and liver fibrosis (r=-0.344, -0.129, and -0.163, all P＜0.05). ConclusionLSM, CAP, ALT, and age are significantly correlated with the degree of liver inflammation, liver fibrosis, and hepatic steatosis in NASH patients, and therefore, they can be used in noninvasive diagnostic and predictive models to access the severity of liver injury.
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Objective To evaluate the effectiveness and safety of direct-acting antiviral agents (DAA) treatment in Chinese chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients with genotype (GT) 1b HCV infection in a real world setting .Methods The consecutive GT1b CHC Chinese patients treated with sofosbuvir (SOF) plus daclatasvir (DCV) (n＝62) or SOF plus ledipasvir (LDV) (n＝171) were enrolled from July 2014 to December 2016 at 302 Military Hospital of China .The treatment duration for all the patients was 12 weeks .All the clinical parameters were measured at baseline and then 4-weekly till 12 weeks after the end-of-treatment (EOT ).Baseline clinical characteristics ,treatment efficacy ,safety and tolerance were compared .Serum HCV RNA concentration was detected by means of COBAS TaqMan assay with a lower detection limit of 15 IU/mL ,and liver stiffness was measured using FibroScan?.Sustained virologic response (SVR) was defined as HCV RNA under the lower limit of quantification 12 weeks after EOT (SVR12).Students′t-test ,pearson χ2 test ,Spearman rank correlation analysis and Fisher exact test were used for comparison between groups when appropriate .Results Among 233 patients ,173 cases had baseline HCV RNA level ≥ 6 .0 lg IU/mL and 97 cases hade liver stiffness measurement (LSM )≥17.5 kPa.The baseline liver inflamation ,liver fibrosis ,and HCV RNA load of patients in the two groups were not significantly different (all P＞0 .05).The HCV RNA of all the 233 patients was undetectable at the end of 12-week treatment ,while 2 patients relapsed after 12 weeks of EOT with the overall SVR12 of 99.1% .HCV RNA decline was significantly faster in patients with lower LSM than those with higher LSM (ρ＝0 .233 ,P＝0 .001) ,and SVR12 was higher in those with lower LSM .In terms of other clinical characteristics of SOF+DCV and SOF+LVD groups ,alanine transaminase declined from (68 .0 ± 60 .1) and (70 .1 ± 56 .1) U/L to (21 .1 ± 10 .9) U/L and (15 .3 ± 9 .5) U/L ,respectively ,total bilirubin declined from (21 .3 ± 17 .3) and (18 .2 ± 14 .0) μmol/L to (13 .2 ± 6 .7) and (10 .2 ± 4 .6) μmol/L , respectively ,AFP declined from 19 .6 (10 .6 ,62 .3) and 15 .0 (12 .0 ,25 .0) μg/L to 6 .5(4 .5 ,18 .7) and 7 .8(5 .3 ,15 .4) μg/L ,respectively ,LSM declined from 17 .6 (8 .9 ,25 .4) and 15 .7 (7 .8 ,23 .9) kPa to 13.9(6 .5 ,21 .4) and 9 .1(5 .6 ,19 .9) kPa ,respectively ,serum album elevated form (37 .5 ± 5 .8) and (38 .7 ± 5 .5) g/L to (41 .3 ± 4 .7) and (42 .8 ± 5 .1) g/L ,respectively ,platelet elevated from (120.9 ± 78 . 2)×109/L and (136 .6 ± 65 .8 )× 109/L to (139 .5 ± 71.8 )× 109/L and (149 .7 ± 71.4 )× 109/L , respectively .Reports of adverse events were low in both groups .Conclusions Both SOF + DCV and SOF/LDV therapy are highly effective with ＞ 98% of SVR12 and reduce LSM value significantly with good safety for CHC GT1b Chinese patients .
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Spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP) is a common complication of cirrhosis. Based on our current understanding of SBP, the most common etiologies for SBP in cirrhosis are Enterobacter and Streptococcal species. Th e Aeromonas species are ubiquitous in fresh or sea water. Aeromonas caviae is never identified as etiology in cases of SBP. A patient, who had a history of liver cirrhosis related to chronic hepatitis B virus infection for 1 year, presented with diarrhea. He had diarrhea 1 week later returned from coastal city. He was hospitalized and treated with norfloxacin after 7 days of severe symptoms, including fever, abdominal distention, and diarrhea. Analysis of the ascitic specimen revealed a white-cell count of 4.42 × 109 cells/L with 88% neutrophils. Analysis of stool specimen showed a white-cell count of 60 cells per high-power field. Th e patient started the injection of cefriaxone at a dose of 4 g/d. However, the situation was not improved. Th ree days later, stool and ascitic fluid culture showed positive for Aeromonas caviae. Antibiotic susceptibility testing revealed that imipenem, meropenem, amikacin, and cefoperazone-sulbactam were highly sensitive to the Aeromonas caviae. However, the bacilli resisted to ceftriaxone, ceftazidime, ampicillin-sulbactam, levofloxacin, and sulfamethoxazole. Ceftriaxone was then switched to imipenem. The patient was fully recovered 14 days later. Aeromonas caviae is a rare pathogen of SBP in cirrhosis. It resists to third-generation of cephalosporin and fluroquinolone, which are of frequently used dependent on clinical experience. It needs a special attention.
Subject(s)
Humans , Male , Aeromonas caviae , Anti-Infective Agents , Ascitic Fluid , Gram-Negative Bacterial Infections , Pathology , Leukocyte Count , Liver Cirrhosis , Microbial Sensitivity Tests , Peritonitis , Microbiology , PathologyABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate reliability of FibroScan (FS) in diagnosing size of oesophageal varices (OV) in patients with liver cirrhosis.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A total of 260 patients with liver cirrhosis were enrolled in the study. All patients underwent endoscopy to assess OV stage and FS to measure liver stiffness. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were generated to evaluate the diagnostic reliability of FS.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The FS values according to OV stage were 20.9 ± 10.3 kPa for patients without OV, 32.2 ± 13.5 kPa for patients with mild OV, 45.6 ± 18.3 kPa for patients with moderate OV, and 55.1 ± 15.6 kPa for patients with severe OV. Significant differences were found among the groups (P < 0.001) as well as between any two groups (t=6.574, 10.533, 13.247, 4.719, 7.072 and 2.171, P less than 0.05 respectively). ROC curves of FS for the diagnoses of patients with various OV stages showed the following:with vs. without OV, 0.824 (95% CI:77.5% to 87.4%); less than moderate vs. more than moderate OV, 0.849 (95% CI:79.6% to 90.2%); and less than severe vs. severe OV, 0.871 (95% CI:81.1% to 93.0%); the corresponding FS cut-off values were 22.8 kPa, 30.6 kPa, and 34.6 kPa.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Liver stiffness measurement by FibroScan allows prediction of the oesophageal varices stage in patients with liver cirrhosis.</p>