Prospective evaluation of liver shearwave elastography measurements with 3 different technologies and same day liver biopsy in patients with chronic liver disease.

BACKGROUND: Most ultrasound-based methods for assessing liver fibrosis still need further validation with liver biopsy used as gold standard to assess their accuracy. AIMS: To assess accuracy of three shear wave elastography (SWE) methods: 1) Philips Elast Point Quantification (ElastPQTM), 2) Siemens Virtual TouchTM Quantification (VTQ) acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI), and 3) transient elastography (TE) measured by Echosens FibroscanTM. METHODS: 160 patients underwent liver stiffness measurements (LSM) with three SWE methods immediately prior to liver biopsy. RESULTS: The number of LSM required for reliable studies could be reduced to 6 for ElastPQ and to 7 for VTQ from standard recommendations of 10. Significant fibrosis and interquartile range/median (IQR/M)> 30 were independent predictors for lower reliability for detection of liver fibrosis. Ordinal logistic regression corrected for age showed that there was a significant interaction between steatosis (p = 0.008) and lobular inflammation (p = 0.04) and VTQ (ARFI) and between lobular inflammation and TE (p = 0.006). CONCLUSIONS: We showed variations in SWE measurements using different ARFI technologies. TE and ElastPQ achieved good diagnostic performance, whereas VTQ showed lower diagnostic accuracy. The number of measurements required for reliable studies can be reduced to 6 for ElastPQ and to 7 for VTQ, which have important clinical implications.

The Accuracy of Ultrasound Controlled Attenuation Parameter in Diagnosing Hepatic Fat Content.

Purpose: The Controlled Attenuation Parameter (CAP score) is based on ultrasonic properties of retropropagated radiofrequency signals acquired by FibroscanTM (Echosens, Paris, France). Since ultrasound propagation is influenced by the presence of fat, CAP score was developed to quantify steatosis. The aim of this study was to delineate the accuracy of CAP in diagnosing hepatic steatosis, compared to the gold standard of liver biopsy. Patients and Methods: A total of 150 patients underwent same-day liver biopsy and measurement of hepatic steatosis with Fibroscan. Only examinations with 10 satisfactory measurements, and an inter-quartile range of less than 30% of the median liver stiffness values were included for data analysis. Histological staging was then correlated with median values and Spearman correlation calculated. P values of <0.05 were considered statistically significant. Results: For diagnosis of hepatic steatosis (HS), CAP could predict the steatosis S2 with AUROC 0.815 (95% CI 0.741-0.889), sensitivity (0.81) and specificity (0.73) when the optimal cut-off value was set at 288 dB/m. CAP detected histological grade S3 with AUROC 0.735 (95% CI 0.618-0.851), sensitivity (0.71) and specificity (0.74), with a cut-off value of 330 dB/m. The AUROC for steatosis grade S1 was 0.741 (95% CI 0.650-0.824), with a cut-off value of 263 dB/m with sensitivity 0.75 and specificity 0.70. Univariate analysis showed a correlation between CAP and diabetes (p 0.048). Conclusion: The performance of CAP to diagnose steatosis severity decreases as steatosis progresses. CAP is associated with diabetes but not other clinical factors and parameters of the metabolic syndrome.

Metabolic phenotype of skeletal muscle in early critical illness.

OBJECTIVES: To characterise the sketetal muscle metabolic phenotype during early critical illness. METHODS: Vastus lateralis muscle biopsies and serum samples (days 1 and 7) were obtained from 63 intensive care patients (59% male, 54.7±18.0 years, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II score 23.5±6.5). MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: From day 1 to 7, there was a reduction in mitochondrial beta-oxidation enzyme concentrations, mitochondrial biogenesis markers (PGC1α messenger mRNA expression (-27.4CN (95% CI -123.9 to 14.3); n=23; p=0.025) and mitochondrial DNA copy number (-1859CN (IQR -5557-1325); n=35; p=0.032). Intramuscular ATP content was reduced compared tocompared with controls on day 1 (17.7mmol/kg /dry weight (dw) (95% CI 15.3 to 20.0) vs. 21.7 mmol/kg /dw (95% CI 20.4 to 22.9); p<0.001) and decreased over 7 days (-4.8 mmol/kg dw (IQR -8.0-1.2); n=33; p=0.001). In addition, the ratio of phosphorylated:total AMP-K (the bioenergetic sensor) increased (0.52 (IQR -0.09-2.6); n=31; p<0.001). There was an increase in intramuscular phosphocholine (847.2AU (IQR 232.5-1672); n=15; p=0.022), intramuscular tumour necrosis factor receptor 1 (0.66 µg (IQR -0.44-3.33); n=29; p=0.041) and IL-10 (13.6 ng (IQR 3.4-39.0); n=29; p=0.004). Serum adiponectin (10.3 µg (95% CI 6.8 to 13.7); p<0.001) and ghrelin (16.0 ng/mL (IQR -7-100); p=0.028) increased. Network analysis revealed a close and direct relationship between bioenergetic impairment and reduction in muscle mass and between intramuscular inflammation and impaired anabolic signaling. ATP content and muscle mass were unrelated to lipids delivered. CONCLUSIONS: Decreased mitochondrial biogenesis and dysregulated lipid oxidation contribute to compromised skeletal muscle bioenergetic status. In addition, intramuscular inflammation was associated with impaired anabolic recovery with lipid delivery observed as bioenergetically inert. Future clinical work will focus on these key areas to ameliorate acute skeletal muscle wasting. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT01106300.

A pilot evaluation of a computer-based psychometric test battery designed to detect impairment in patients with cirrhosis.

BACKGROUND: Psychometric testing is used to identify patients with cirrhosis who have developed hepatic encephalopathy (HE). Most batteries consist of a series of paper-and-pencil tests, which are cumbersome for most clinicians. A modern, easy-to-use, computer-based battery would be a helpful clinical tool, given that in its minimal form, HE has an impact on both patients' quality of life and the ability to drive and operate machinery (with societal consequences). AIM: We compared the Cogstate™ computer battery testing with the Psychometric Hepatic Encephalopathy Score (PHES) tests, with a view to simplify the diagnosis. METHODS: This was a prospective study of 27 patients with histologically proven cirrhosis. An analysis of psychometric testing was performed using accuracy of task performance and speed of completion as primary variables to create a correlation matrix. A stepwise linear regression analysis was performed with backward elimination, using analysis of variance. RESULTS: Strong correlations were found between the international shopping list, international shopping list delayed recall of Cogstate and the PHES digit symbol test. The Shopping List Tasks were the only tasks that consistently had P values of <0.05 in the linear regression analysis. CONCLUSION: Subtests of the Cogstate battery correlated very strongly with the digit symbol component of PHES in discriminating severity of HE. These findings would indicate that components of the current PHES battery with the international shopping list tasks of Cogstate would be discriminant and have the potential to be used easily in clinical practice.

Evaluating the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with prominently elevated liver stiffness measurements by FibroScan: a multicentre study.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: There are limited data on the significance of liver stiffness measurements (LSM) by transient elastography in the upper extreme end of the measurable spectrum. This multicentre retrospective observational study evaluated the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in patients with LSM ≥20 kPa. METHODS: 432 cirrhosis patients with LSM ≥20 kPa between June 2007 and October 2015 were retrospectively followed-up through electronic records. RESULTS: A minimum 1-year follow-up was available for 278 patients (177 men; average age 57, range 18-84). LSM ranged from 20.0 to 75.0 kPa (mean 34.6 kPa). Cumulative incidences of HCC were 19 (6.8%), 30 (10.8%) and 41 (14.7%) at 1, 2 and 3 years, respectively. HCC was associated with age (p = 0.003), higher LSM (p = 0.005) and viral aetiology (p = 0.007). Patients were divided into 4 groups based on LSM at entry: 20-25 kPa (n = 74); 25-30 kPa (n = 62); 30-40 kPa (n = 75); >40 kPa (n = 67). Compared to the 20-25 kPa group, the 30-40 kPa group had a hazard ratio (HR) of 3.0 (95% CI, 1.1-8.3; p = 0.037), and the >40 kPa group had a HR of 4.8 (95% CI, 1.7-13.4; p = 0.003). CONCLUSIONS: This study shows an association between LSM at the upper extreme and HCC risk. Physicians may find this beneficial as a non-invasive dynamic approach to assessing HCC risk in cirrhosis patients.

Direct renin inhibitors: ONTARGET for success?

Direct renin inhibitors are the first new class of antihypertensive to emerge since angiotensin II receptor blockers. We discuss their reno- and cardioprotective potential, based on extrapolation from animal models and phase three trials that are currently ongoing. This paper reviews the potential benefits of direct renin inhibitors (DRIs), the only new anti-hypertensive class developed in the last decade, as compared to pre-existing classes of drug inhibiting more downstream, such as Angiotensin Converting Enzyme inhibitors (ACEI), Angiotensin 2 Receptor Blockers (ARBS).