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Background Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is one of the most prevalent causes of chronic gastritis that can lead to gastric cancer if left untreated. Currently, endoscopy and histology are the gold standard tests for the diagnosis of H. pylori gastritis. Recently, studies have shown the utility of narrow-band imaging (NBI) in predicting H. pylori gastritis. Therefore, we aimed to determine the diagnostic accuracy of NBI in predicting H. pylori gastritis in patients with dyspepsia. Methodology After obtaining approval from the Ethical Review Committee, Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation, this cross-sectional study was conducted in the outpatient Clinic of Hepatogastroenterology of the institute. Inclusion criteria involved all patients of either gender aged 18 to 65 years with dyspeptic symptoms. We excluded patients with a history of proton pump inhibitor use within two weeks before endoscopy, heart failure, previous gastrectomy, portal gastropathy, cirrhosis, use of antiplatelet medications, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or anticoagulant medication, and hemorrhagic or thrombophilia disorders. Each patient underwent endoscopy-guided NBI studies followed by biopsies from the antrum and body of the stomach. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed for the type of NBI pattern predicting H. pylori infection. The diagnostic accuracy was obtained individually for each NBI type and then for the presence of either two or all three NBI types in predicting H. pylori gastritis. Results Out of the total 775 patients enrolled in the study, abnormal NBI patterns were observed in 401 (51.7%) patients. The presence of abnormal NBI antral mucosal pattern on endoscopy was significantly associated with H. pylori infection (p < 0.001) with excellent diagnostic accuracy. Among the three NBI types, individually, NBI type III had excellent specificity and better diagnostic accuracy in predicting H. pylori gastritis than the other two types. Furthermore, the presence of all three abnormal NBI patterns (I+II+III) together was significantly associated with the presence of H. pylori gastritis with a sensitivity of 94.54%, specificity of 86.55%, and diagnostic accuracy of 90.32%. Conclusions NBI on endoscopy shows excellent diagnostic accuracy in identifying H. pylori gastritis in patients with dyspepsia. However, multicenter studies are required not only to validate our results but also to predict the pre-cancerous lesions on NBI in patients with H. pylori gastritis.
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Introduction Limited studies are available for predicting mortality in patients with spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP) based on ascitic fluid analysis. Recently, a proposition has been made regarding the role of ascitic fluid lactate as a better prognostic indicator of mortality in cirrhotic patients with SBP. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the utility of ascitic fluid lactate in predicting mortality in cirrhotic patients with SBP. Methods This was a prospective, observational study that was conducted in the Hepato-Gastroenterology Department of Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation (SIUT), Karachi from 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2022. All the patients having liver cirrhosis with ascites, aged between 18 and 65 years, and presenting with fever and/or abdominal pain were recruited in the study in the first six months (i.e., from 1 January 2022 to 30 June 2022) and were followed for six more months for the outcome. However, those patients on dialysis or those with hepatocellular carcinoma, any other malignancy as per a history of solid organ transplant, a history of HIV infection, or those underlying systemic sepsis or infections other than SBP were excluded from the study. The presence or absence of SBP was confirmed by doing the ascitic fluid analysis. Ascitic fluid lactate levels were also requested in each patient. Mortality was assessed at one, two, three, and six months, respectively. All the data were analyzed using SPSS version 23.0. The area under the receiver operating curve (AUROC) was obtained for ascitic fluid lactate for predicting mortality in SBP. At an optimal cutoff, the diagnostic accuracy of ascitic fluid lactate was obtained. Results The total number of cirrhotic patients included in the study was 123. The majority of the patients belong to Child Turcotte Pugh (CTP) class C (n = 88; 71%). Two third of the patients (65.8%; n = 81) had viral hepatitis i.e., hepatitis B, D, and/or C, as the cause of cirrhosis. Overall mortality was observed in 51(41.5%) patients. Ascitic fluid lactate was significantly raised in patients with SBP than in patients with non-SBP (p = 0.004). The AUROC of ascitic fluid lactate was highest at three months (AUROC = 0.88) followed by six months (AUROC = 0.84), two months (AUROC = 0.804), and one month (AUROC=0.773). At an optimal cut-off of more than or equal to 22.4 mg/dl, ascitic fluid lactate had a sensitivity of 84.9%, specificity of 85.7%, positive predictive value (PPV) of 97.3%, negative predictive value of 42.8% with diagnostic accuracy of 85% in predicting overall mortality in patients with SBP. On sub-analysis, the diagnostic accuracy of ascitic fluid lactate was highest at six months followed by at three, two, and one month, respectively. Conclusion Ascitic fluid lactate showed a good diagnostic utility in predicting the overall mortality in patients with SBP with the best diagnostic accuracy in predicting long-term (six months) mortality. However, further studies are required to validate our results.
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INTRODUCTION: The model for end stage liver disease (MELD), model for end stage liver disease-sodium (MELD Na), and Child-Turcotte-Pugh (CTP) score are independent predictors of mortality in cirrhotic patients. Approximately 43% of cirrhotic patients with advanced disease are frail and can have detrimental effects on the disease prognosis and survival including delisting from the transplant list and increased risk of post-transplant complications. Therefore, our aim was to determine the correlation of MELD, MELD-Na, and CTP score with frailty in patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) related cirrhosis. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted at the Department of Hepato-gastroenterology, Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation from 1st January 2022 to 30th June 2022. All the patients of either gender aged between 18 and 70 years with serological evidence of HCV and features of cirrhosis on ultrasound abdomen were included in the study. Patients with conditions over estimating frailty were excluded from the study. Liver Frailty Index (LFI) was calculated using grip strength measured in kilograms, timed chair stands, and balance testing. CTP and MELD-Na scores for each patient were also recorded. All the data were analyzed using SPSS version 22.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY). The correlation of MELD, MELD-Na, and CTP with LFI was analyzed using the Pearson correlation coefficient and a p-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: A total of 274 patients were included in the study. Out of them, 185 (67.5%) were males. The mean CTP score was 8.1 + 2.1, MELD score of 13.6 + 7.1, MELD-Na score of 15 + 6.6, and LFI of 4.1 + 0.83. LFI was found to be weakly correlated with MELD (r = 0.278) (p < 0.001), MELD-Na score (r = 0.41) (p < 0.001), and CTP score (r = 0.325) (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Weak correlation was noted between LFI, CTP, MELD, and MELD-Na scores in HCV-associated chronic liver disease. Therefore, frailty along with MELD, MELD-Na, and CTP must be assessed before considering the patients for liver transplantation.
