Concordance of non-invasive mechanical and serum tests for liver fibrosis evaluation in chronic hepatitis C.

Aim: To determine the sensitivity and specificity of liver stiffness measurement (LSM) and serum markers (SM) for liver fibrosis evaluation in chronic hepatitis C.

Methods: Between 2012 and 2014, 81 consecutive hepatitis C virus (HCV) patients had METAVIR score from liver biopsy compared with concurrent results from LSM [transient elastography (TE) [FibroScan/ARFI technology (Virtual Touch)] and SM [FIB-4/aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index (APRI)]. The diagnostic performance of these tests was assessed using receiver operating characteristic curves.

Lack of technical specificity in the molecular diagnosis of toxoplasmosis.

The polymerase chain reaction amplification of a fragment of the B1 gene of Toxoplasma gondii coupled to hybridization was performed in 42 patients from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The results showed 50% of positivity in the IgM positive toxoplasmosis group, and 12.5% in the positive IgG and negative IgM individuals.

Toxoplasmic encephalitis in an HIV infected pregnant woman: successful outcome for both mother and child.

This report describes a case of Toxoplasma encephalitis during pregnancy of an HIV infected woman who was severely immunosuppressed (CD(4): 17 cells/mm3), had a high viral load (RNA PCR:230,000 copies/ml), was treated with sulfadiazine, pyrimethamine and folinic acid for toxoplasmosis and was being treated with highly potent antiretroviral drugs (AZT, 3TC and nelfinavir) for HIV infection. The newborn was born through an elective C-section, received six weeks of AZT according to the 076 protocol and was clinically normal at birth. Subsequently he had two RNA PCR negatives for HIV, seroreverted and had no clinical or laboratory evidence of congenital toxoplasmosis.