Publications by authors named "B HOFER"

Background: Portal hypertension (PH) resulting from static and dynamic intrahepatic changes drives liver-related complications even after removing the underlying aetiological factor.

Objective: We investigated the impact of inflammation on the dynamic component of PH during disease regression in animal models of toxin-induced cirrhosis and patients with alcohol-related cirrhosis.

Methods: In mice, cirrhosis was induced via toxin application for 12 weeks followed by toxin-withdrawal allowing for one or 2 weeks of regression.

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Current guidelines recommend reflex testing for hepatitis D virus (HDV) coinfection in hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)-positive patients over risk-factor based screening. We aimed to evaluate the feasibility and diagnostic yield of reflex anti-HDV testing at a Central European tertiary care center. We retrospectively included 560 consecutive patients who had a recorded (first) positive HBsAg test result at the Vienna General Hospital between 2018 and 2022.

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Background/objectives: Research suggests that metalinguistic and cognitive/attentional-control processes are key variables in literacy development in young learners. Interactions between these variables are complex, and this complexity is increased in multilingual learners. With data on the interplay between metalinguistic and cognitive awareness, literacy, and multilingualism being scarce, it is far from clear how these variables interact and how they impact the individual child.

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Article Synopsis
  • The LiverRisk score is a proposed blood test aimed at estimating liver stiffness and identifying patients at risk for compensated advanced chronic liver disease (cACLD) and liver-related events without prior known liver issues.
  • In a study involving nearly 7,500 patients, the score's diagnostic performance was evaluated against established methods like FIB-4 and APRI, revealing that while it moderately correlates with liver stiffness measurements, it tends to underestimate them.
  • Although the LiverRisk score demonstrated decent accuracy for predicting cACLD and hepatic decompensation, its limitations include a low negative predictive value, indicating it might not effectively rule out disease in some patients.
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