Optimizing the pre-referral workup for gastroenterology and hepatology specialty care: consensus using the Delphi method.

Rationale, Aims And Objectives: Specialty care referrals have doubled in the last decade. Optimization of the pre-referral workup by a primary care doctor can lead to a more efficient first specialty visit with the patient. Guidance regarding pre-referral laboratory testing is a first step towards improving the specialty referral process.

High Rate of Hospital Admissions Among Patients with Cirrhosis Seeking Care in US Emergency Departments.

Background And Aims: Emergency Departments (ED) can serve as a gateway to specialty care for patients with cirrhosis with limited care access. We described the rates and characteristics of patients with cirrhosis who access United States (US) EDs, and identified factors associated with subsequent hospitalization.

Methods: Using data from the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, cirrhosis-related ED from 2000 to 2009 were identified and compared to all other ED visits.

Physical, social, and psychological consequences of treatment for hepatitis C : a community-based evaluation of patient-reported outcomes.

Background: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) antiviral therapy entails a long treatment course, as well as significant side effects that can lead to medication non-adherence and premature termination of treatment. Few large studies have comprehensively examined patient perspectives on the treatment experience, particularly the social and personal effects.

Objective: We sought to understand how a diverse group of patients' lives were affected during HCV treatment, and to obtain suggestions about how to better support patients during treatment.

Radiofrequency ablation of recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma in a patient after liver transplantation: two-year follow-up.

Orthotopic liver transplantation is frequently performed for patients with end-stage liver disease complicated by the development of small hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs). Since the adaptation of the Milan criteria, the rate of posttransplantation recurrence has significantly decreased to a rate of 10%-20%. In the setting of recurrence after transplantation, survival rates are poor, with a median of 9 months.