Patients with hepatitis C lost to follow-up: ethical-legal aspects and search results.

Introduction: data on the prevalence and characteristics of hepatitis C patients lost to follow-up are lacking. In addition, the identification of this population clashes with data protection regulations.

Methods: the identification and contact protocol was submitted to the Health Care Ethics Committee.

Quality of life study in asymptomatic patients with hepatitis C.

Objective And Methods: an observational, longitudinal, prospective study was performed to assess changes in perceived quality of life in asymptomatic patients with hepatitis C under treatment with direct-acting antivirals. Questionnaires SF-36 and EQ-5D-5L were administered to 86 treated patients and 12 controls.

Results: there were improvements in several parameters such as physical functioning, bodily pain, general health, vitality and social functioning, particularly when the perceptions were compared before treatment and after treatment completion and following recovery.

Practical aspects of high resolution esophageal manometry.

High resolution esophageal manometry (HRM) is currently under development as can be seen in the various Chicago classifications. In order to standardize criteria in certain practical aspects with limited scientific evidence, the First National Meeting for Consensus in High Resolution Manometry of the Spanish Digestive Motility Group took place, bringing together a wide group of experts. The proposals were based on a prior survey composed of 47 questions, an exhaustive review of the available literature and the experience of the participants.

[Percutaneous radiofrequency ablation with artificial ascites for hepatocellular carcinoma adjacent to the diaphragm].

Surgical resection is the first-line curative treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However most patients are unable to undergo surgical resection because of advanced tumoral stage, severe liver dysfunction or poor clinical status. Therefore, image-guided tumor ablation techniques have been introduced for the treatment of unresectable HCC.

Chronic hepatitis C treatment in a cystic fibrosis patient in the pulmonary pre-transplant stage.

The standard treatment of chronic hepatitis C, pegylated interferon and ribavirin (pegI/R), has many limitations in both effectiveness and secondary effects, which makes it unsuitable or even contraindicated for some patients. In hepatitis C virus-infected cystic fibrosis patients this treatment could increase respiratory infections with subsequent pulmonary function deterioration. On the contrary, hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection may make lung transplant (LT) unfeasible.

Eosinophilic esophagitis in adults, an emerging cause of dysphagia. Description of 9 cases.

Background: Eosinophilic esophagitis is a rare condition mainly affecting children, although the number of cases reported in adults is on the increase. It is characterized by intense infiltration of eosinophilic leukocytes in the esophageal mucosa, without involvement of other sections of the alimentary canal.

Material And Methods: Over the past year, following the performance of endoscopies and biopsies, our service identified nine patients who were diagnosed with suffering from this disorder.

[Ultrasonographic aspects of cystic papillary tumor of the pancreas. Apropos of 2 cases].

Cystic papillary pancreatic tumor is an infrequent neoplasm of unknown origin which is presented almost exclusively in young women. It is characterized by an anodyne clinical symptomatology with it frequently treated as an accidental finding. Ultrasonography and computerized axial tomography have a priority role in the study of this entity but the definitive diagnosis is based on the histologic findings.

[The prognostic value of the endoscopic signs in the recurrence of peptic ulcer hemorrhage].

The endoscopic signs of hemorrhage in bleeding peptic ulcers are considered as prognostic factors for rebleeding and mortality. The value of these signs has been examined in several studies of patients with known high risk factors. In this survey, we studied the prognostic value of the endoscopic signs of hemorrhage in bleeding peptic ulcer in a group of patients without clinical risk factors such as age > 60 years, concomitant malignancy or respiratory and heart disease.

[Extraintestinal manifestations of chronic inflammatory intestinal disease].

Intestinal Inflammatory Chronic Disease includes a series of pathological entities of unknown etiology, basically characterized by inflammatory lesions in the digestive tube. Importance of this disease, which frequency has grown in the last few years, lies in the fact that not only affects the intestine but also other organs, originating systemic manifestations which, occasionally, modify the evolution and therapy of these patients. Because of this fact, we try, in this work, to provide a general overview of the extra-intestinal pathology associated with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.

[Digestive hemorrhage caused by gastric varices: usefulness of the techniques of endoscopic sclerosis].

Upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage secondary to gastric varices still has a high death rate. Fourteen patients were admitted to our unit with bleeding gastric varices from November 1989 to August 1991. Endoscopic injection sclerotherapy obtained control of the bleeding in 92.

[Acute viral hepatitis A and C: report of a case].

We present a case of acute hepatitis by simultaneous A and C virus infection. The coinfection was suspected due to the high levels of transaminases lasting more than 9 months after onset of the illness. During the early stages of the illness, the patient had IgM antibodies to hepatitis A virus.