Change in Liver Imaging Reporting and Data System Characterization of Focal Liver Lesions Using Gadoxetate Disodium Magnetic Resonance Imaging Compared With Contrast-Enhanced Computed Tomography.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to determine whether gadoxetate-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) improves lesion characterization in patients at risk for hepatocellular carcinoma compared with computed tomography (CT).

Materials And Methods: Forty-nine patients with indeterminate lesions found at contrast-enhanced CT were prospectively enrolled and imaged using gadoxetate-enhanced hepatobiliary phase (HBP) MRI within 30 days of their initial CT. Three readers graded each lesion at CT and MRI using the Liver Imaging Reporting and Data System (LI-RADS) v2014 major criteria and HBP characterization as an ancillary feature.

New Therapies, Evidence, and Guidance in Hepatitis C Management: Expert Practices and Insights from an Educational Symposium at the AMCP 27th Annual Meeting Expo.

Background: The 2013-2014 approvals of new direct-acting antiviral (DAA) therapies for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection have engendered a paradigm shift in HCV treatment and management, offering the potential for a cure at a population level. The availability of the highly effective and relatively safe DAAs prompted revisions to guidance recommendations based on new clinical trial evidence. In the context of this paradigm shift and considerations of the costs associated with the new DAAs, managed care professionals face new questions and challenges regarding HCV treatment and management approaches.

Esophageal varices on computed tomography and subsequent variceal hemorrhage.

Purpose: Endoscopy is recommended to screen for esophageal varices in patients with cirrhosis. The objective of this study was to identify features on abdominal CT imaging associated variceal hemorrhage (VH).

Methods: A case-control study was performed among patients with cirrhosis who had a CT scan.

The association of human immunodeficiency virus infection with spontaneously resolved hepatitis C virus infection and level of viremia among injection drug users.

This study aimed to investigate whether HIV and HIV-related factors are associated with spontaneously resolved hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and levels of hepatitis C viremia. Among 351 anti-HCV(+) injection drug users, with and without HIV infection, multivariate methods were used to evaluate whether HIV status and HIV viral load, CD4 T-cell count, and concurrent HIV antiretroviral therapy were associated with (1) spontaneously resolved HCV infection and (2) HCV RNA levels. In 186 HIV patients, decreased HCV resolution was independently associated with Black race and modestly associated with CD4 T-cell count <200 cells/ml.

Hepatitis C and steatosis.

Hepatic steatosis is common in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Epidemiologic studies have shown HCV-associated steatosis to correlate with both patient factors, such as obesity and viral factors, such as HCV genotype 3a. Furthermore, the degree of steatosis has been linked to the extent of hepatic fibrosis in several studies, implying that steatosis may be contributing to disease progression in chronic HCV infection.