Rituximab is a safe and effective alternative treatment for patients with autoimmune hepatitis: Results from the ColHai registry.

Background And Aims: Small series suggest that rituximab could be effective as treatment for autoimmune hepatitis (AIH), although data are scarce. We aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of rituximab in different cohorts of patients with AIH.

Methods: Multicentre retrospective analysis of the 35 patients with AIH and its variant forms treated with rituximab and included in the ColHai registry between 2015 and 2023.

Faecal Microbiota Transplantation is a simple, effective and safe treatment in the management of C. difficile infection in daily clinical practice.

Introduction: Faecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) is a treatment supported by wide scientific evidence and proved to be very effective in the management of Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI). The objective of this study is to analyze its effectiveness and safety in a real clinical practice setting.

Methods: Retrospective, single-center and descriptive observational study in which all FMT performed between May 2016 and December 2020 were included.

Budesonide as first-line treatment in patients with autoimmune hepatitis seems inferior to standard predniso(lo)ne administration.

Background And Aims: In patients with non-severe acute or chronic autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) without cirrhosis, clinical practice guidelines recommend indistinct use of prednisone or budesonide. However, budesonide is infrequently used in clinical practice. We aimed to describe its use and compare its efficacy and safety with prednisone as first-line options.

Early predictors of corticosteroid response in acute severe autoimmune hepatitis: a nationwide multicenter study.

Background And Aims: To assess whether corticosteroids improve prognosis in patients with AS-AIH, and to identify factors at therapy initiation and during therapy predictive of the response to corticosteroids.

Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study including all patients with AS-AIH admitted to 13 tertiary centres from January 2002 to January 2019. The composite primary outcome was death or liver transplantation within 90 days of admission.

Obeticholic Acid and Fibrates in Primary Biliary Cholangitis: Comparative Effects in a Multicentric Observational Study.

Introduction: Obeticholic acid (OCA) and fibrates therapy results in biochemical improvement in placebo-controlled trials in patients with primary biliary cholangitis and insufficient response to ursodeoxycholic acid. There is scarce information outside of clinical trials. Therefore, we have assessed the effectiveness and adverse events of these treatments.

Boosting mitochondria activity by silencing MCJ overcomes cholestasis-induced liver injury.

Background & Aims: Mitochondria are the major organelles for the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the cell, and mitochondrial dysfunction has been described as a key factor in the pathogenesis of cholestatic liver disease. The methylation-controlled J-protein (MCJ) is a mitochondrial protein that interacts with and represses the function of complex I of the electron transport chain. The relevance of MCJ in the pathology of cholestasis has not yet been explored.

Endoscopy-Related Bleeding and Thromboembolic Events in Patients on Direct Oral Anticoagulants or Vitamin K Antagonists.

Background & Aims: Few prospective studies have assessed the safety of direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) in elective endoscopy. Our primary aim was to compare the risks of endoscopy-related gastrointestinal bleeding and thromboembolic events in patients on DOACs or vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) in this setting. Secondarily, we examined the impact of the timing of anticoagulant resumption on the risk of delayed bleeding in high-risk therapeutic procedures.

Estimation of visceral fat is useful for the diagnosis of significant fibrosis in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

Background: Obesity is a risk factor for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), although obese patients with NAFLD do not always develop significant fibrosis. The distribution of body fat could predict the risk of NAFLD progression.

Aim: To investigate the role of bioelectrical impedance-estimated visceral fat (VF) in assessing NAFLD severity.

Tacrolimus as an Effective and Durable Second-Line Treatment for Chronic Autoimmune Hepatitis: A Multicentric Study.

Background: Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) is a chronic liver disease able to progress to acute liver failure, cirrhosis, and liver cancer. A significant proportion of patients fail to first-line therapy or develop severe toxicity.

Aims: To assess safety and effectiveness of tacrolimus as a second-line therapy in AIH patients.

Distal Intestinal Obstruction Syndrome resolved by dissolution with Coca-Cola® via colonoscopy in a cystic fibrosis patient.

We report the case of a 37 years old woman who presented to emergency department because of a 3 days history of abdominal disconfort and distension. After physical examination and a CT scan of the abdomen she was diagnosed of Distal Intestinal Obstruction Syndrome (DIOS) in the context of her underlying cystic fibrosis. Conservative management was attempted with no improvement.

Management and Outcomes of Bleeding Within 30 Days of Colonic Polypectomy in a Large, Real-Life, Multicenter Cohort Study.

Background & Aims: Management of delayed (within 30 days) postpolypectomy bleeding (DPPB) has not been standardized. Patients often undergo colonoscopies that do not provide any benefit. We aimed to identify factors associated with therapeutic intervention and active bleeding after DPPB.

Hemostatic spray powder TC-325 for GI bleeding in a nationwide study: survival and predictors of failure via competing risks analysis.

Background And Aims: TC-325 (Hemospray, Cook Medical, Winston-Salem, NC) is an inorganic hemostatic powder recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Epistaxis in the cirrhotic patient: A complication to be considered.

Introduction: Epistaxis in cirrhotic patients is a common issue. However, the literature published to date is very scarce.

Material And Methods: Retrospective case series of patients with cirrhosis who presented with a significant epistaxis, between 2006 and 2016.

Current allocation policy is favorable for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma waiting for liver transplantation.

Background: Patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are a growing population of the transplantation waiting list (WL) for orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). There is no consensus to prioritize these patients while on the WL.

Aims: To assess whether patients with HCC were more prioritized than non-HCC patients based on their WL survival as primary outcome.

Limited effectiveness with a 10-day bismuth-containing quadruple therapy (Pylera ) in third-line recue treatment for Helicobacter pylori infection. A real-life multicenter study.

Background: Helicobacter pylori antibiotic resistance is an increasing problem worldwide. Pylera may be an option as salvage therapy.

Aim: To assess the effectiveness, safety, and tolerance of Pylera as a third-line in clinical practice.

Do patients with iron deficiency without anemia benefit from an endoscopic examination?

Objective: The need for endoscopic investigation in patients with iron deficiency without anemia (ID) is not established.

Methods: Data from patients with ID (serum ferritin ≤20 ng/mL, normal hemoglobin) studied with upper and lower endoscopies were retrospectively analyzed. Patients evaluated for iron deficiency anemia (IDA) served as controls, matched by sex and age in the proportion of 2:1.

Results of the implementation of a multidisciplinary programme of faecal microbiota transplantation by colonoscopy for the treatment of recurrent Clostridium difficile infection.

Introduction: Recurrent Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) is common and often difficult to manage. Faecal microbiota transplant (FMT) is an effective therapeutic tool in these cases, although its applicability and effectiveness in Spain is currently unknown.

Aim: To analyse the technical aspects, safety and effectiveness of the first consolidated FMT programme in Spain.

Management of complex perianal Crohn's disease.

Patients with Crohn's disease often develop perianal disease, successfully managed in most cases. However, its most aggressive form, complex perianal disease, is associated with high morbidity and a significant impairment in patients' quality of life. The aim of this review is to provide an updated approach to this condition, reviewing aspects of its epidemiology, diagnosis and therapeutic alternatives.

[Not Available].

Syphilis is a chronic systemic infection mainly transmitted through sexual contact that shows a great variety of clinical manifestations. Liver involvement is an unusual complication mainly reported in HIV patients. In this case report we present a case of a 42-year-old immunocompent man with acute cholestatic hepatitis who was finally diagnosed of luetic hepatitis.

[Fecal microbiota transplantation].

Bacteria can no longer be seen as an enemy. Nowadays, there is enough evidence to place the microbiota as a key element in human homeostasis. Despite initial skepticism, fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) is a real therapeutic alternative for patients with recurrent Clostridium difficile infection.