Two-dimensional shear wave elastography for sparing endoscopy screening in patients with HBV-related compensated advanced chronic liver disease.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the diagnostic performance of liver stiffness (LS) measured by 2D-SWE for predicting esophageal varices (EV) and high-risk varices (HRV) in patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related compensated advanced chronic liver disease (cACLD). METHODS: In total, 268 patients with HBV-related cACLD who underwent 2D-SWE and esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) were retrospectively evaluated. The new criteria for ruling out HRV were tested in the training cohort with 175 patients and validated in the validation cohort with 93 patients. RESULTS: The AUROCs of LS for predicting EV and HRV were 0.90(0.86-0.95) and 0.93(0.89-0.96) respectively. LS (OR, 1.64 (95% CI: 1.31-2.07); P < 0.0001), PLT (OR, 0.94 (95% CI: 0.91-0.97); P < 0.0001) and albumin (OR, 0.75 (95% CI: 0.62-0.90); P = 0.02) were independent factors for the presence of HRV. The Baveno VI criteria of LS < 20 kPa and PLT > 150 × 109 /L saved 15.1%-17.1% EGD screening with 0-4.3% HRV miss rate. LS < 16 kPa and PLT > 60 × 109 /L spared 51.4%-52.7% EGD screening with 3.8%-4.3% HRV miss rate. CONCLUSION: Baveno VI criteria is suitable for 2D-SWE to rule out HRV. LS < 16 kPa and PLT > 60 × 109 /L could be a reliable model for ruling out HRV in patients with HBV-related cACLD.

Gadobenate dimeglumine-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging can accurately predict the severity of esophageal varices and portal vein pressure in patients with hepatitis B cirrhosis.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the effectiveness of gadobenate dimeglumine (Gd-BOPTA)-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in predicting portal hypertension and high-risk esophageal varices (EV) in patients with hepatitis B cirrhosis. METHODS: In total, 71 and 30 patients comprising the training and validation groups, respectively, were enrolled in the study. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to detect their risk of developing high-risk EV to generate a formula for scoring EV. The relationships between the relative enhancement ratio (RE) of Gd-BOPTA-enhanced MRI and portal vein pressure were explored. RESULTS: Platelet count, portal vein width and RE were identified as independent predictors of high-risk EV. Based on these parameters, the EV score model were calculated as: -6.483 + 15.612 × portal vein width + 2.251 × RE - 0.176 × platelet count. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.903. At a cut-off value of ≤ -2.74, the negative predictive value was 94.00%, while the positive predictive value was as high as 93.80% when the cut-off was set at > 4.00. Gd-BOPTA-enhanced MRI was effective in predicting portal pressure. Its accuracy was confirmed with the validation set. CONCLUSIONS: Gd-BOPTA-enhanced MRI was successfully applied to evaluate high-risk EV and portal hypertension. These results represent an accurate, non-invasive model for detecting high-risk EV, based on which we propose a cost-effective algorithm for EV management, eliminating the need to perform an endoscopy in all patients with cirrhosis.

Real life application of FIB-4 & APRI during mass treatment of HCV genotype 4 with directly acting anti-viral agents in Egyptian patients, an observational study.

Background: Non-invasive prediction of significant liver fibrosis and gastro-esophageal varices during mass treatment for HCV is crucial.The aim is to validate the accuracy of FIB-4 & APRI for predicting significant fibrosis in chronic HCV patients during mass treatment with directly acting anti-viral agents (DAAs) & their validity for predicting varices.Methods: We did a search in a database of 21,617 patients with chronic HCV infection recruited to one of the national HCV treatment centers to find out those with fibrosis assessment by recent liver biopsies &/or liver stiffness to serve as a gold standard. The diagnostic accuracy of FIB-4 and APRI values were assessed against the gold standard. Demographics and relevant laboratory data of 3144 patients (14.5%) were retrieved.Results: Significant fibrosis (F3-F4) was detected in 1585 (50.4%). AUROCs for detecting significant fibrosis (F3-F4) were 0.76 (0.75-0.78) for FIB-4 and 0.72 (0.72-0.75) for APRI. To diagnose liver cirrhosis, AUROCs were higher; 0.82 (0.80-0.83) for FIB-4 and 0.78 (0.76-0.79) for APRI, p < 0.001. Prediction of gastro-oesophageal varices; AUROC for FIB-4 and APRI, were 0.65 and 0.62 respectively.Conclusion: FIB-4 and APRI are reliable methods in predicting cirrhosis during mass HCV treatment. Their role in predicting gastro-oesophageal varices is less remarkable.

The role of spleen stiffness using ARFI in predicting esophageal varices in patients with Hepatitis B and C virus-related cirrhosis.

INTRODUCTION: Current guidelines recommend that all patients with cirrhosis undergo upper gastrointestinal endoscopy (UGE) screening for esophageal varices (EV). Unfortunately, UGE has a lot of disadvantages, consequently various non-invasive methods of diagnosing EV have been proposed. We evaluated if spleen stiffness (SS) measured by Acoustic Radiation Force Impulse (ARFI) is a viable technique in diagnosing EV. METHODS: We recruited 178 patients with cirrhosis caused by Hepatitis B and C who underwent biochemical tests, abdominal ultrasound, UGE, LS and SS measurements using ARFI elastography. Based on the endoscopic results the patients were divided in 3 groups: without EV, with small EV (<5 mm) and with large EV (>5 mm). RESULTS: ARFI SS was the only non-invasive parameter associated with the presence of EV (2.7±0.30 vs. 3.4±0.52, p<0.001) and large EV (2.91±0.36 vs. 3.86±0.37, p=0.001) after multivariate logistic regression (p<0.001). ARFI SS for predicting EV showed an AUROC of 0.872 (CI 95%: 0.799-0.944), for a cut-off value of 2.89 m/s: Sensitivity (Se) 91.4% (CI 95%: 81-97%), Specificity (Sp) 67.7% (CI 95%: 51-85%). ARFI SS for diagnosing large EV (>5mm) had better results with an AUROC 0.969 (CI 95%:0.935-0.99), and for a cut-off of 3.30 m/s: Se 96.4% (CI 95%: 82-99.9%), Sp 88.5% (CI 95%: 78-95%). CONCLUSIONS: SS measured using ARFI is a good method of detecting EV and is an excellent method of diagnosing large EV in patients with virus-related cirrhosis.

Antiviral therapy reduces rebleeding rate in patients with hepatitis B-related cirrhosis with acute variceal bleeding after endotherapy.

BACKGROUND: The preventive effects of antiviral therapy to reduce rebleeding rate in patients with hepatitis B-related cirrhosis undergoing endoscopic treatment have not yet been reported. METHODS: In this retrospective cohort study, 1139 patients with chronic hepatitis B with first acute variceal bleeding after endoscopic therapy from September 2008 to December 2017 were included. Among them, 923 who received and 216 who did not receive antiviral therapy were followed up for rebleeding. Cumulative rebleeding rate was calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to estimate the effects of antiviral therapy on rebleeding risk. The propensity score matched method and inverse probability of treatment weighting analysis were used to calculate the rebleeding rate between the antiviral and non-antiviral groups. RESULTS: The rebleeding rates were 40.5, 60.7, 72.6, and 89.2% in antiviral group at 1, 2, 3, and 5 years, respectively. The corresponding rebleeding rates in the non-antiviral group were 54.2, 72.4, 84.4, and 93.3%, respectively. The multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that antiviral therapy was an independent protective factor associated with rebleeding. CONCLUSION: Antiviral treatment significantly reduced rebleeding rate in patients with HBV-related cirrhosis who received endoscopic treatment after the first variceal bleeding.

Role of the von Willebrand factor and the VITRO score as predictors for variceal bleeding in patients with hepatitis C-related cirrhosis.

BACKGROUND: Noninvasive methods have been established to detect clinically significant portal hypertension in liver cirrhosis with variable limitations. The von Willebrand factor (vEF) has been found to increase in liver cirrhosis. AIM: The aim of this study was to explore the vEF and VITRO (von Willebrand factor antigen/platelet ratio) score in the prediction of variceal bleeding in patients with portal hypertension. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fifty patients with hepatitis C-related liver cirrhosis (25 patients with variceal bleeding and 25 without variceal bleeding) as well as 80 healthy controls were included. Laboratory investigations and upper gastrointestinal endoscopy were performed in all patients. Serum vEF was measured in the patient and the control group. The VITRO score was calculated. RESULTS: The mean levels of the vEF antigen and the VITRO score were higher in patients with variceal bleeding compared with patients without variceal bleeding and controls (P<0.001). At levels of at least 100.1 ng/ml and at least 0.732, the vEF and the VITRO score could predict variceal bleeding with a sensitivity and a specificity of 92 and 99.9% for the vEF and 80 and 68% for the VITRO score (area under the curve=0.982 and 0.843), respectively. Levels of vEF were correlated positively with esophageal varices grade. CONCLUSION: Serum vEF level and the VITRO score are potential noninvasive biomarkers for the prediction and risk stratification of variceal bleeding in hepatitis C-related liver cirrhosis.

Insulin/high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio: A newly-discovered predictor of esophageal varices in patients with hepatitis C virus-related cirrhosis in the absence of diabetes mellitus.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Insulin resistance (IR) is closely linked with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) and its complications, particularly hepatic fibrosis. The aim of the present study was to investigate some biochemical markers that are potentially related to IR as predictors of esophageal varices (EV) in patients with compensated HCV cirrhosis who do not have diabetes or metabolic syndrome. MATERIALS AND METHODS: One hundred subjects without diabetes with compensated HCV-related cirrhosis who did not fulfill the diagnostic criteria of metabolic syndrome were subjected to clinical, laboratory, ultrasonographic, and endoscopic assessments. RESULTS: EV were evident in 73 patients with lower platelet counts and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels. On the contrary, the fasting values of both insulin and glucose, the homeostatic model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) score, and the bipolar diameter of the spleen of patients with EV were higher than those of other patients who were varices-free. Multivariate analysis confirmed insulin/HDL-C ratio (P=0.01) and HOMA-IR score (P=0.039) as predictors for the presence of varices. The best cut-off values above which the risk of the latter occurrence increased were 0.147 (sensitivity 89%) and 2.24 (sensitivity 72.6%) for both predictors, respectively. CONCLUSION: The present study recorded two valid predictors of HCV-related EV: HOMA-IR score and insulin/HDL-C ratio. The latter is more sensitive and is likely more convenient in the case of individuals without diabetes. The validity of two IR-related predictors in the absence of metabolic syndrome confirmed the suggestion that the mechanism of IR-related HCV is different from that of the traditional metabolic syndrome.

Association of the Body Mass Index with the Presence of Gastroesophageal Varices in Compensated Cirrhotic Patients with Hepatitis C Viral Infection.

Obesity is regarded as a risk factor for various benign and malignant diseases. We evaluated whether or not the body mass index (BMI) was associated with the presence of gastroesophageal varices in asymptomatic hepatitis C virus (HCV)-related compensated cirrhosis (Child-Pugh grade A status). Among a total of 794 patients of HCV-related chronic liver disease, 90 had histologically-proven cirrhosis, and 63 were classified as having compensated cirrhosis (30 had varices, and the remaining 33 did not). The values of prothrombin time (%) and platelet count were significantly lower in the patients with varices than in those without (P=0.042 and P=0.013, respectively). In addition to the abovementioned variables, the BMI was significantly higher in the patients with varices than in those without (P=0.031). In a multivariate analysis, only an increased BMI (odds ratio 1.205, 95% confidence interval 1.009-1.486, P=0.039) was independently associated with the presence of varices. In asymptomatic HCV-related compensated cirrhosis with a Child-Pugh A status, an increased BMI is suggested to be related to the presence of gastroesophageal varices.

Gas6 as a predictor of esophageal varices in patients affected by hepatitis C virus related-chronic liver disease.

AIM: Plasma Gas6 was tested as an alternative to Baveno VI criteria (liver stiffness <20 kPa and platelet count >150 × 109/l) in an endoscopy-sparing strategy. METHODS:  A total of 160 patients with chronic hepatitis C and advanced fibrosis/cirrhosis underwent, on the same occasion, liver elastography, upper endoscopy, a platelet count and serum Gas6 measurement. RESULTS:  A total of 74/160 (46%) patients had esophageal varices, that were small (diameter <5 mm) in 57/160 (34%) and large in 17/160 (11%) cases. A total of 34/160 (21%) patients satisfied Baveno VI criteria, according to which screening for esophageal varices could have been omitted; 1/34 had large varices (sensitivity 94%). A plasma Gas6 value <45 ng/ml, detected in 34/160 (21%) patients, was also 94% sensitive. CONCLUSION: Plasma Gas6 might represent a feasible alternative to Baveno VI criteria when transient elastography is unavailable/unsuccessful.

Development and evaluation of a novel score for prediction of large oesophageal varices in patients with hepatitis c virus-induced liver cirrhosis.

OBJECTIVE: Variceal bleeding is one of the most common life-threatening complications of liver cirrhosis. This study aimed to develop and evaluate a predictive score, named Platelet count, Alpha fetoprotein (AFP) and Prothrombin-INR (PAP) for the prediction of large oesophageal varices and to compare PAP score with eight common liver fibrosis scores (AAR, APRI, GUCI, BRC score, Fibro-Alfa, FIB4, Lok and Fibro-Q) in patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) induced liver cirrhosis. METHODS: A total of 277 patients with HCV-induced liver cirrhosis were evaluated by upper gastrointestinal endoscopy for presence of varices. Liver biochemical profile, complete blood count, prothrombin time and AFP were estimated. Stepwise linear discriminant analysis and area under receiver-operating characteristic curves (AUCs) were used to create a predictive score (PAP score) comprising platelet count, AFP and prothrombin-INR. RESULTS: PAP score predicts large oesophageal varices in patients with HCV-induced liver cirrhosis with AUC of 0.85. The optimum cut-off for predicting large oesophageal varices using ROC curve analysis was 0.27. At this point the PAP score had 77% sensitivity, 86% specificity, 94% negative predictive value and 84% efficiency. The diagnostic performances (AUC) of eight common liver fibrosis scores were 0.58 for the AAR score, 0.63 for APRI, 0.66 for GUCI, 0.68 for BRC, 0.72 for Fibro-Alfa, 0.70 for FIB4, 0.72 for Lok and 0.77 for Fibro-Q. CONCLUSION: PAP scores a non-invasive, inexpensive and simple score that could predict the presence of large oesophageal varices reducing the need of endoscopy. The PAP score has a superior AUC score than other scores, suggesting improved clinical value.

Usefulness of Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasonography for Predicting Esophageal Varices in Patients with Hepatitis B Virus (HBV)-Related Cirrhosis.

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to investigate the usefulness of contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) in predicting of esophageal varices (EV) and assessing high-risk EV in patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related cirrhosis. MATERIAL AND METHODS Patients with HBV-related cirrhosis who had undergone endoscopy were prospectively recruited. Hepatic dynamic CEUS was performed. Regions of interest (ROI) were drawn on the hepatic artery, hepatic vein, portal vein, and liver parenchyma to measure the corresponding features, such as arrival times. Spearman's correlation analysis was used to determine the relations between several dynamic CEUS features and the degree of EV. Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curves were constructed to investigate the diagnostic performance of CEUS in assessing the presence of EV and high-risk EV. RESULTS Fifty-eight patients (44 men; mean age 51.3 years) were included in this study. Of these, 18 (31.0%), 12 (20.7%), 11 (19.0%), and 17 (29.3%) of patients had grade 0, 1, 2, and 3 EV, respectively. Grade 2 and grade 3 EV were considered high-risk EV. Among the CEUS features, the area under the ROC curves of intrahepatic transit time (HV-HA, i.e., the difference between hepatic vein arrival time and hepatic artery arrival time) both for assessment of the presence of EV and high-risk EV (0.883 and 0.915, respectively) were larger than the other indices. HV-HA was negatively correlated with the grade of EV. An HV-HA of under 8.2 s indicated the presence of EV and under 7 s indicated high-risk EV. CONCLUSIONS Dynamic CEUS imaging is useful in assessing the presence of EV and high-risk EV in patients with HBV-related cirrhosis.

American Gastroenterological Association Institute Clinical Practice Update-Expert Review: Care of Patients Who Have Achieved a Sustained Virologic Response After Antiviral Therapy for Chronic Hepatitis C Infection.

Chronic hepatitis C virus infection is well-recognized as a common blood-borne infection with global public health impact affecting 3 to 5 million persons in the United States and more than 170 million persons worldwide. Chronic hepatitis C virus infection is associated with significant morbidity and mortality due to complications of liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Current therapies with all-oral direct-acting antiviral agents are associated with high rates of sustained virologic response (SVR), generally exceeding 90%. SVR is associated with a reduced risk of liver cirrhosis, hepatic decompensation, need for liver transplantation, and both liver-related and all-cause mortality. However, a subset of patients who achieve SVR will remain at long-term risk for progression to cirrhosis, liver failure, hepatocellular carcinoma, and liver-related mortality. Limited evidence is available to guide clinicians on which post-SVR patients should be monitored vs discharged, how to monitor and with which tests, how frequently should monitoring occur, and for how long. In this clinical practice update, available evidence and expert opinion are used to generate best practice recommendations on the care of patients with chronic hepatitis C virus who have achieved SVR.

Incidence of HCV induced-Esophageal varices in Egypt: Valuable knowledge using data mining analysis.

Esophageal varices is one of the most important comorbidity related liver cirrhosis, patients usually presented with hematemesis, melena, or both, ultimately 20% is the mortality during the first attack, hence we aimed to investigate the incidence of such esophageal varices related chronic Hepatitis C virus (HCV) in randomized Egyptian population.One thousand eighteen Egyptian patients, aged between 17 and 58 years, positive for Hepatitis C virus genotype 4 (HCV-4) by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay Ab and HCV RNA-polymerase chain reaction were screened for the presence of esophageal varices.Incidence of esophageal varices was 62.3%; 635 patients, those with large Esophageal varices (LEVs) was 47.4%; 301 patients. Model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) score has not been significantly improved post variceal band ligation (VBL). Using 2D U/S was useful for EVs prediction.Incidence of esophageal varices in HCV Egyptian patients still high, valuable knowledge would be helpful in clinical field have been discovered by data mining computational intelligent analysis using in practical medicine to improve overall health care.

Facility- and Patient-Level Factors Associated with Esophageal Variceal Screening in the USA.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: The American Association for the Study of Liver Disease (AASLD) recommends screening for esophageal varices (EV) by esophagoduodenoscopy (EGD) in patients with cirrhosis to guide decisions regarding primary prophylaxis for EV hemorrhage. We aimed to identify patient and facility factors associated with EV screening in veterans with hepatitis C (HCV)-associated cirrhosis. METHODS: This was a population-based cohort study. Veterans with HCV and newly diagnosed cirrhosis between 1/1/2004 and 12/31/2005 and followed until 12/31/2011 were included. The primary outcome was receipt of EGD within 1 year of cirrhosis diagnosis. Patient- and facility-level factors associated with EV screening were determined. RESULTS: A total of 4230 patients with HCV cirrhosis were identified. During median follow-up of 6.1 years (IQR: 4.0-8.0), 21.5 % developed a decompensating event, and 38.3 % died. Fifty-four percent received an EGD, and 33.8 % had an EGD within guidelines. Median time from cirrhosis diagnosis to EGD was 72 days (IQR: 12-176). Factors independently associated with receipt of EV screening were a decompensation event (OR 1.16, CI 1.01-1.32) and gastroenterology/hepatology clinic access (OR 2.1, CI 1.73-2.46), whereas cardiovascular (OR 0.81, CI 0.69-0.95), mental health (OR 0.79, CI 0.68-0.91), and respiratory (OR 0.85, CI 0.72-0.99) comorbidities were associated with reduced likelihood of EV screening. CONCLUSION: EV screening per AASLD guidelines occurs in only one-third of patients. This missed opportunity was strongly associated with access to gastroenterology/hepatology specialty care. Additionally, providers may be relying on clinical cues (i.e., decompensation) to prompt referral for endoscopy suggesting education to improve compliance with guidelines is needed.

A new model combining the liver/spleen volume ratio and classification of varices predicts HVPG in hepatitis B patients with cirrhosis.

BACKGROUND: Although the therapy of varices in liver cirrhosis has improved, the mortality during a variceal hemorrhage episode remains high. Patients with hepatic venous pressure gradient (HVPG) greater than 12 mmHg have been identified as being at a higher risk for the first hemorrhage episode. AIMS: The aim of this study was to find an accurate method to predict HVPG greater than 12 mmHg. METHODS: A total of 150 hepatitis B patients with liver cirrhosis were enrolled and analyzed retrospectively. The patients were randomly divided into the experiment group and the validation group. The experiment group was used to construct a model to predict HVPG greater than 12 mmHg. The validation group was used to verify the predictive equation. RESULTS: The predictive model combined with the liver/spleen volume ratio and classification of varices was constructed to predict HVPG greater than 12 mmHg. The area under the curve of this predictive equation was 0.919. The values of sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value were 92.9, 87.0, 89.7, and 90.9%, respectively. The following equation was used to calculate the HVPG score: HVPG score = 13.651 - 6.187×ln (liver/spleen volume)+2.755×[classification of varices score (classification of varices : small, 1; large; 2]. CONCLUSION: The new model combining the liver/spleen volume ratio and classification of varices can accurately predict HVPG in hepatitis B patients with cirrhosis.

Albumin and magnetic resonance imaging-liver volume to identify hepatitis B-related cirrhosis and esophageal varices.

AIM: To investigate whether liver lobe volume and albumin (ALB) could predict the presence and severity of liver cirrhosis, and esophageal varices. METHODS: Seventy-one cirrhotic patients with hepatitis B and 21 healthy individuals were enrolled in this study. All the participants underwent abdominal enhanced magnetic resonance imaging to measure each liver lobe volume, and biochemical workup for testing ALB and Child-Pugh class. All cirrhotic patients underwent upper gastrointestinal endoscopy to show the presence of cirrhotic esophageal varices. Right liver lobe volume (RV), left medial liver lobe volume (LMV), left lateral liver lobe volume (LLV), and caudate lobe volume (CV) were measured using enhanced magnetic resonance imaging. The ratios of RV to ALB (RV/ALB), LMV to ALB (LMV/ALB), LLV to ALB (LLV/ALB) and CV to ALB (CV/ALB) were calculated. Statistical analyses were performed to determine whether and how the combination of liver lobe volume measured using magnetic resonance imaging and albumin could predict the presence and severity of liver cirrhosis, and the presence of esophageal varices. RESULTS: RV, LMV, LLV and CV decreased (r = -0.51-0.373; all P < 0.05), while RV/ALB increased (r = 0.424; P < 0.05), with the progress of Child-Pugh class of liver cirrhosis. RV, LMV, CV, LLV/ALB and CV/ALB could identify presence of liver cirrhosis; LLV and LMV could distinguish Child-Pugh class A from B; RV, LMV, LLV, CV, RV/ALB and LLV/ALB could distinguish class A from C; RV and LLV/ALB could differentiate B from C; and RV, RV/ALB and CV/ALB could identify presence of esophageal varices (all P < 0.05). Among these parameters, CV/ALB could best identify the presence of liver cirrhosis, with an area under receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of 0.860, a sensitivity of 82.0% and a specificity of 83.0%. LLV could best distinguish class A from B, with an AUC of 0.761, a sensitivity of 74.4% and a specificity of 73.1%. RV could best distinguish class A from C, with an AUC of 0.900, a sensitivity of 90.3% and a specificity of 84.5%. LLV/ALB could best distinguish class B from C, with an AUC of 0.900, a sensitivity of 93.8% and a specificity of 81.5%. RV/ALB could best identify esophageal varices, with an AUC of 0.890, a sensitivity of 80.0% and a specificity of 83.5%. CONCLUSION: The combination of liver lobe volume and ALB has potential to identify presence and severity of cirrhosis, and presence of esophageal varices.

Preoperative trans-jugular porto-systemic shunt for oncological gastric surgery in a cirrhotic patient.

Abdominal surgery in cirrhotic patients with portal hypertension is associated with high incidence of disease and mortality. In these patients, oncological gastric procedures with lymph-nodes dissection show much higher complication rates than in normotensive portal vein patients. Thus, normalization of portal vein pressure may be a favorable determinant factor to reduce complications. We report a case of a patient with hepatitis C virus-related hepatic cirrhosis, esophageal varices, portal hypertension and gastric cancer. We demonstrated the efficacy of a preoperative trans-jugular porto-systemic shunt to perform oncological radical resection more safely. We retained preoperative the trans-jugular porto-systemic shunt in the patients with elevated portal pressure and gastric cancer to perform a gastrectomy more safely and to decrease morbidity and mortality of these cases.

Non-invasive assessment of liver fibrosis in chronic hepatitis B.

The goal of this review is to provide a comprehensive picture of the role, clinical applications and future perspectives of the most widely used non-invasive techniques for the evaluation of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. During the past decade many non-invasive methods have been developed to reduce the need for liver biopsy in staging fibrosis and to overcome whenever possible its limitations, mainly: invasiveness, costs, low reproducibility, poor acceptance by patients. Elastographic techniques conceived to assess liver stiffness, in particular transient elastography, and the most commonly used biological markers will be assessed against their respective role and limitations in staging hepatic fibrosis. Recent evidence highlights that both liver stiffness and some bio-chemical markers correlate with survival and major clinical end-points such as liver decompensation, development of hepatocellular carcinoma and portal hypertension. Thus the non-invasive techniques here discussed can play a major role in the management of patients with chronic HBV-related hepatitis. Given their prognostic value, transient elastography and some bio-chemical markers can be used to better categorize patients with advanced fibrosis and cirrhosis and assign them to different classes of risk for clinically relevant outcomes. Very recent data indicates that the combined measurements of liver and spleen stiffness enable the reliable prediction of portal hypertension and esophageal varices development.

Comparison of telbivudine efficacy in treatment-naive patients with hepatitis B virus-related compensated and decompensated cirrhosis in 96 weeks.

OBJECTIVE: Data are limited for comparison of the long-term efficacy of telbivudine (LdT) between hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related compensated and decompensated cirrhosis. The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of LdT in treatment-naive patients with HBV-related compensated and decompensated cirrhosis in 96 weeks. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We reviewed the data of 65 compensated and 62 decompensated cirrhotic patients treated with LdT for 96 weeks, and compared the difference in the related indicators before and after treatment between the groups. RESULTS: Alanine aminotransferase normalized rate was significantly higher in the compensated group than in the decompensated group at weeks 12 and 24 (67.7 vs. 40.3% and 78.5 vs. 53.2%, respectively, P<0.01). Albumin level was much higher than the baseline at week 24 in the compensated group (35.1±6.2 vs. 39.9±5.1, P<0.01), but significance was observed from week 48 onwards in the decompensated group (29.8±3.7 vs. 33.7±3.8, P<0.05). The Child-Turcotte-Puge score either improved or remained steady in both groups. The HBV DNA negativity rate at week 12 (56.9 vs. 32.3%, P<0.01) was higher, whereas the drug resistance rate was lower (P>0.05), in the compensated group than in the decompensated group. The degree of esophageal varix was alleviated, including 11 (16.9%) compensated and four (6.5%) decompensated cirrhotic patients. Liver stiffness was significantly decreased in the compensated group compared with the baseline [19.1 (7.3-32.6) vs. 14.8 (7.4-32.5), P<0.01]; however, there was no statistical significance in the decompensated group compared with the baseline [30.5 (9.1-55.0) vs. 29.9 (8.4-53.2), P>0.05]. CONCLUSION: Long-term LdT treatment showed superior virological, biochemical, and clinical efficacy in the compensated cirrhotic patients. Therefore, we emphasized the importance of early antiviral treatment, which may improve the prognosis of cirrhotic patients.