Ictericia obstructiva secundaria a migración de fragmentos de hepatocarcinoma a la vía biliar / Obstructive jaundice secondary to hepatocellular carcinoma fragments migrated to common bile duct

Obstructive j aundice is a rare presentation of hepatocellular carcinoma (HC), and when it occurs, usually is due to progressive damage from cirrhosis, or extensive tumor infiltration. Tumor growth through the bile duct is being described with increasing frequency as a cause of obstructive j aundice. Rarely, it may be hepatocarcinoma fragments that migrate to the bile duct, obstructing it. We present a case of obstructive jaundice due to migration of fragments of hepatocellular carcinoma to the bile duct in a patient treated 7 years before, for an HC with a curative resection.

La ictericia obstructiva es una presentación poco común en un hepatocarcinoma (HC). Cuando en estos casos existe ictericia, habitualmente se debe a daño progresivo por cirrosis, o a infiltración tumoral extensa. El crecimiento o vaciamiento tumoral hacia la vía biliar se ha descrito ocasionalmente como causa de ictericia obstructiva. En raras ocasiones, puede tratarse de fragmentos de hepatocarcinoma que migran hacia la vía biliar, obstruyéndola. Presentamos un caso de ictericia obstructiva por migración de fragmentos de hepatocarcinoma a la vía biliar, en un paciente tratado 7 años antes por un HC, con resección curativa.

Falla hepática fulminante en niños / Acute liver failure in children: experience of a liver transplant center

Background: Acute liver failure (ALF) in childhood is defined as biochemical evidence of liver injury, absence of known chronic liver disease and coagulopathy not corrected by vitamin K administration, with INR greater than 1.5 if the patient has encephalopathy or greater than 2.0 if the patient does not have encephalopathy. Objective: Report the experience of a single liver transplant center (LT) in the treatment of 8 children with ALF and review the literature. Method: Retrospective review of clinical charts of patients with ALF. Results: The median age was 8 years-old (range 0-11), three females. Five patients underwent LT. Two patients died, one of them LT. The etiologies were 4 undetermined, 1 autoimmune, 1 Wilson Disease, 1 Parvo virus and 1 chronic graft rejection. All grafts were from cadaver donor, 3 of them reduced. Two out of five patients with encephalopathy grade III-IV died. The one year survival rate was 75 percent. Conclusions: Children with ALF should be treated in experienced centers with facilities for liver transplant. Transplantation should be offered only if the underlying disease is treatable by liver replacement and if transplant prognosis is better than that of the underlying disease.

Falla hepática fulminante (FHF) en la infancia se define como evidencia bioquímica de daño hepático, sin antecedentes conocidos de enfermedad hepática crónica, coagulopatía no corregida por la administración de vitamina K e INR superior a 1,5 si el paciente tiene encefalopatía o superior a 2 si no tiene encefalopatía. Objetivo: Presentar la experiencia de un centro de trasplante hepático (TH) en el tratamiento de 8 niños con FHF y revisar la literatura. Pacientes y Método: Revisión retrospectiva de la historia clínica de pacientes con FHF. Resultados: La edad media fue de 8 años, rango 0-11, tres sexo femenino. Cinco pacientes fueron sometidos a TH. Dos pacientes fallecieron, uno de ellos con TH. La etiología fue indeterminada en 4 pacientes, 1 autoinmune, 1 enfermedad de Wilson, 1 parvovirus y 1 rechazo crónico del injerto. Todos los injertos fueron de donante cadáver, 3 de ellos reducidos. Dos de cinco pacientes con encefalopatía grado III-IV fallecieron. La tasa de sobrevida al año fue de 75 por ciento. Conclusión: El manejo de la FHF debe realizarse en un centro con capacidad de realizar TH, aunque no todos los pacientes requerirán finalmente esta terapia. El TH debiera ser ofrecido sólo si la enfermedad subyacente es tratable con reemplazo hepático y si el pronóstico del TH es mejor que el de la enfermedad misma.

Variantes alélicas de CYP1A1 y GSTM1 como biomarcadores de susceptibilidad a cáncer gástrico: influencia de los hábitos tabáquico y alcohólico / Cytochrome P4501A1 (CYP1A1), glutathione S transferase M1 (GSTM1) polymorphisms and their association with smoking and alcohol consumption as gastric cancer susceptibility biomarkers

Background: Gastric cancer (GaC) is the second cause of death by cancer in the world and one of the first causes in Chile. However, the burden of this disease shows remarkable worldwide variation probably explained by environmental and genetic factors. The role of susceptibility low penetrance genes and environmental and dietary factors in the etiology of gastric cancer is not well-known. Aim: To analyze the possible association between CaG susceptibility, genetic (CYP1A1 and GSTM1 polymorphisms) and environmental (tobacco and alcohol) factors. Patients and Methods: In a case-control study, we included 73 patients with a pathologically diagnosed GaC and 263 controls. DNA was extracted from peripheral blood to detect allele variants for CYP1A1 and GSTM1, using polymerase chain reactions and digestion with restriction enzymes. Results: There was a clear association of smoking and alcohol ingestion with GaC with odds ratios (OR) of 2.54 (95 percent confidence intervals (CI) of 1.45-4.46 and OR of 3.36 (95 percent CI 1.76-6.41), respectively. Polymorphic variants of CYP1A1 and GSTM1 had no association with GaC. However, the m2 variant of CYP1A1 significantly modifies the risk induced by tobacco or alcohol (OR 13.65; 95 percent CI 3.15-59.05 y 8.37; 95 percent CI 1.86-37.64, respectively). Conclusions: Subjects that carry the m2 allelic variant of CYP1A1 and are exposed to tobacco smoke or alcohol have a significantly higher risk of developing gastric cancer.

Trasplante combinado hepato-renal: a propósito de un caso / Combined liver-kidney transplantation: report of one case

End stage renal disease is not an absolute contraindication for liver transplantation (LT) in patients with end stage liver disease. Actuarial patient and graft survival are comparable for children and adults who undergo LT alone and liver-kidney transplantation (LKT). The most common indications for LKT are the primary hyperoxaluria type I (PH1) and the liver and renal polycystic disease. We report a 12 years old boy with congenital hepatic fibrosis with severe portal hypertension, encephalopathy and polycystic kidney disease with end stage renal disease on dialysis that underwent LKT. During the second postoperative week, he had a biopsy-proven acute liver and renal rejection, that had a good response to corticosteroids. Thirty days after surgery, the liver biopsy was without rejection. No other complications were observed (Rev Méd Chile 2003; 131: 1309-12).