Clinical features of myeloproliferative neoplasms with portal hypertension as the main manifestation / 临床肝胆病杂志

Objective To investigate the clinical features, liver histological features, and diagnostic and treatment methods for patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN) with portal hypertension as the main manifestation. Methods A retrospective analysis was performed for related data of the patients who attended the hospital due to portal hypertension and were finally diagnosed with MPN in Liver Research Center, Beijing Friendship Hospital, from January 2019 to February 2022, including clinical manifestation, liver pathological features, treatment, and follow-up results. Results Nine patients were included in this study, and all the patients had splenomegaly and esophageal and gastric varices, while portal vein thrombosis was observed in eight patients. All patients had normal or slightly abnormal liver function and routine blood test results. Six patients underwent liver biopsy, without the formation of fibrous septum and pseudolobule, and hepatic extramedullary hematopoiesis was observed in two patients. All nine patients underwent bone marrow biopsy and genetic testing, among whom six had essential thrombocythemia and three had primary myelofibrosis, and genetic testing revealed JAK - 2V617F gene mutation in seven patients and CALR gene mutation in two patients. Conclusion MPN is one of the rare causes of portal hypertension and has the clinical manifestations of esophageal and gastric varices, splenomegaly, and even megalosplenia, without the manifestations of hypersplenism such as leukopenia and thrombocytopenia. Detection of the JAK - 2V617F and CALR genes can improve the diagnostic rate of MPN.

Clinical diagnosis, staging, and therapeutic principles of liver cirrhosis / 临床肝胆病杂志

With in-depth studies on the pathogenesis, pathophysiology, treatment, and prognosis of liver cirrhosis in recent years, there have been great changes in staging and treatment concepts among scholars in China and globally. Besides the traditional staging system of compensated and decompensated liver cirrhosis, liver cirrhosis can be divided into five stages based on ascites, variceal bleeding, and severe infection, which highlights the features of this disease in different disease stages and this provides potential targets and basis for treatment. At present, the comprehensive management of liver cirrhosis, including etiological treatment, treatment targeting key pathogenesis and major complications, nutritional support, exercise guidance, and lifestyle adjustment (smoking cessation, alcohol withdrawal, and improvement of oral hygiene), is the key to delaying disease progression and improving prognosis, and liver transplantation remains the most effective approach for end-stage liver cirrhosis.

Diagnostic value of FibroTouch, FibroScan, and acoustic radiation force impulse for liver fibrosis in patients with primary biliary cholangitis / 临床肝胆病杂志

ObjectiveTo investigate the diagnostic efficiency of FibroTouch, FibroScan, and acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI) for liver fibrosis in patients with primary biliary cholangitis (PBC). MethodsA retrospective analysis was performed for the patients who underwent liver biopsy and were then diagnosed with PBC in Beijing Friendship Hospital, Capital Medical University, from September 2014 to October 2018, and the METAVIR scoring system was used to evaluate the degree of liver fibrosis and inflammation. Within 1 week after liver biopsy, FibroTouch, FibroScan, and ARFI were used to measure liver stiffness (LS); with pathological results as the gold standard, the area under the ROC curve (AUC) was used to compare the value of FibroTouch, FibroScan, and ARFI in the diagnosis of liver fibrosis in PBC patients, and related influencing factors were analyzed; Youden index was used to calculate the cut-off values of LS for different degrees of liver fibrosis. The Kruskal-Wallis H test was used for comparison between multiple groups, and P value corrected by the Bonferroni method was used for further comparison between two groups. A Spearman correlation analysis was performed, and a multiple linear regression model was used for multivariate analysis. ResultsA total of 68 patients with PBC were enrolled in the study, among whom 13 had F0 liver fibrosis, 15 had F1 liver fibrosis, 18 had F2 liver fibrosis, 12 had F3 liver fibrosis, and 10 had F4 liver fibrosis. LS obtained by FibroTouch (FT-LS), LS obtained by FibroScan (FS-LS), and LS obtained by ARFI (ARFI-LS) were strongly positively correlated with the degree of liver fibrosis (r=0.798, 0.782, and 0.742, all P＜0.001). FT-LS had AUCs of 0.922, 0.881, and 0.926, respectively, in the diagnosis of F≥2, F≥3, and F=4 liver fibrosis, and the corresponding cut-off values were 10.5 kPa, 15.8 kPa, and 17.5 kPa, respectively; FS-LS had AUCs of 0.918, 0.878, and 0.939, respectively, in the diagnosis of F≥2, F≥3, and F=4 liver fibrosis, and the corresponding cut-off values were 10.1 kPa, 12.9 kPa, and 18.2 kPa, respectively; ARFI-LS had AUCs of 0.904, 0.869, and 0.928, respectively, in the diagnosis of F≥2, F≥3, and F=4 liver fibrosis, and the corresponding cut-off values were 1.45 m/s, 1.83 m/s, and 2.08 m/s, respectively. There was no significant difference in diagnosing the same stage of liver fibrosis between FibroTouch, FibroScan, and ARFI (P＞0.05). The multivariate analysis showed that degree of liver fibrosis (β=0.399, P＜0.001), total bilirubin (β=0.466, P＜0.001), and prothrombin time activity (β=-0.195, P=0.020) were influencing factors for FT-LS; degree of liver fibrosis (β=0370, P＜0.001), aspartate aminotransferase (β=0.450, P＜0.001), prothrombin time activity (β=-0.303, P=0.001), and alkaline phosphatase (β=-0.187, P=0.042) were influencing factors for FS-LS; degree of liver fibrosis (β=0.489, P＜0.001), aspartate aminotransferase (β=0.467, P＜0.001), and platelet count (β=-0.188, P=0.028) were influencing factors for ARFI-LS. ConclusionFibroTouch has similar efficiency to FibroScan and ARFI in the diagnosis of liver fibrosis in PBC patients, with relatively high diagnostic efficiency for significant liver fibrosis (F≥2) and liver cirrhosis (F=4), and therefore, it can be used as a reliable method for the diagnosis of liver fibrosis in PBC patients.

Value of hepatic venous pressure gradient in predicting clinical end events in liver cirrhosis / 临床肝胆病杂志

Liver cirrhosis is the end stage of liver disease, and decompensated liver cirrhosis has the significant feature of portal hypertension. At present, hepatic venous pressure gradient (HVPG) remains the “gold standard” for evaluating portal hypertension and thus has great significance in clinical practice. This article elaborates on the value of HVPG in predicting end events in compensated and decompensated liver cirrhosis and the application of HVPG in evaluating the therapeutic effect of drugs in the treatment of portal hypertension, so as to provide a basis for early prediction, early prevention, and early intervention of portal hypertension in clinical practice.

An analysis of clinical characteristic and related risk factors in 208 cirrhotic patients complicated with infections / 中华内科杂志

Objective To analyze the clinical features and risk factors of cirrhotic patients complicated with infections. Methods The clinical and laboratory characteristics of cirrhotic patients complicated with infections hospitalized from April 2014 to June 2017 were retrospectively analyzed. Relevant risk factors for infection and mortality were explored. Results The overall incidence of infections was 17.6％ in 1670 hospitalized cirrhotic patients. Among the recruited 208 patients in this study, alcoholic, viral hepatitis B or C and autoimmune liver diseases accounted for 29.8％ (62/208), 26.0％ (54/208), and 22.1％ (46/208), respectively. The most common infection site was respiratory tract (70.2％ ), followed by urinary tract, intestinal and intra-abdomen. Forty-six pathogens were isolated from 32 patients, including 22 (47.8％ ) Gram negative bacteria, 16 (34.8％ ) Gram positive bacteria and 2(4.3％ ) mycobacterium tuberculosis, 5 (10.9％) fungi and 1 (2.2％) mycoplasma. The mortality in patients with nosocomial infections (16.7％,7/42) was higher than that in patients with community-acquired infections (6.0％,10/166, P=0.025). All 17 deaths occurred in decompensated cirrhosis. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that hepatic encephalopathy and prothrombin time were independent risk factors of mortality. Conclusions Patients with decompensated cirrhosis are more susceptible to infections. Hepatic encephalopathy and prothrombin time are independent risk factors for death.

Comparison of CT enterography(CTE)and capsule endoscopy(CE)for small bowel diseases / 中华消化内镜杂志

Objective To compare the role of CTE and CE on the diagnosis of small bowel diseases and evaluate their advantages in patients with different indications.Methods Patients underwent both CTE and CE(interval time <2 weeks)at our institution in recent 3 years were enrolled.The positive detection rates,lesion properties and characteristics of CTE and CE were compared.The diagnostic accuracy of combined method was also analyzed.Results A total of 47 patients were enrolled and the indications included suspected or established Crohn′s disease (28 cases),unexplained abdominal pain (14 cases), obscure gastrointestinal bleeding(3 cases),insufficient small bowel obstruction(1 case)and protein losing enteropathy(1 case).Diagnostic yield of CTE and CE for whole small bowel disorders showed no significant difference(CE 83.0% VS CTE 78.7%,P =0.791).For suspected or established CD,CE had a higher diagnostic accuracy than CTE (78.6% VS 35.7%,P =0.002 ),especially in detecting lesions in the jejunum(CE 50.0% VS CTE 7.1%,P =0.002).The diagnostic accuracy reached 100.0% when two meth-ods were combined.For unexplained abdominal pain,no significant difference was found in the diagnostic ac-curacy of CE and CTE(CTE 42.8% VS CE 50.0%,P =1.000).Diagnostic accuracy of combining CTE and CE was 85.7%.Conclusion CTE and CE are both valuable in detecting small bowel lesions.For pa-tients with suspected or established CD,CE is better than CTE.For patients with unexplained abdominal pain,a combination of CTE and CE may be a better strategy than use CTE or CE alone.

Clinical significance of interleukin-17 producing cell infiltration with TGF-β1 expression in glioma / 中华行为医学与脑科学杂志

Objective To investigate correlation between the amount of interleukin-17 (IL-17) producing cells and the expression of transforming growth factor (31 (TGF-β1) in glioma,and evaluate the clinical values of IL-17 and TGF-pl in predicting the prognosis of glioma. Methods The presence of IL-17 and TGF-pl was measured by immunohistochemistry in 135 human glioma (WHO Ⅰ 18,WHO Ⅱ 45,WHO Ⅲ 53,WHO Ⅳ 19) tissues and 15 normal brain tissues. Results There was no IL-17 positive staining in normal brain tissues. Of 135 glioma specimens showed low TGF-pl expression and 77 (57. 03% ) showed high TGF-pl expression. No TGF-β1 expression was detected in normal brain tissue. Furthermore,TGF-β1 expression was positively correlated with the amount of IL-17 producing cells in glioma tissues ( r=0.285, P<0.01). Compared with the low grade,the levels of IL-17 and TGF-pl positive cells were obviously increased in high grade. The Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that there were significant differences in overall survival (OS) between the IL-17 and TGF-pl high-expression and lowexpression group (P＜0.01, P＜0.05). The 3-year OS rates of IL-17 of high expression and low expression were 33.75% and 76. 36%. Multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression analysis indicated that age,KPS score, IL-17 were independent prognostic factor for OS (P＜0.01). Conclusion Intratumoral IL-17-producing cell density and the expression of TGF-β1 was associated with the malignancy of human glioma.