Pharmacotherapy for primary biliary cholangitis: an assessment of medication candidacy and rates of treatment.

Background: Ursodeoxycholic acid is the preferred first-line therapy for primary biliary cholangitis. Alternative therapies, such as obeticholic acid, are recommended for patients who cannot tolerate ursodeoxycholic acid or who have an inadequate response to ursodeoxycholic acid monotherapy. Prior investigations have suggested that as many as 30% of patients with primary biliary cholangitis may have never received treatment with ursodeoxycholic acid.

Striking Cholestatic Giant Cell Hepatitis Resulting in Fulminant Liver Failure After Garcinia Cambogia Use.

Garcinia cambogia, a weight control herbal, can cause mild liver toxicity with nonspecific histologic changes. Herein, we reported a case of herbal-induced fulminant cholestatic giant cell hepatitis due to garcinia cambogia use. A 65-year-old woman with breast cancer treated 18 years earlier was admitted for obstructive jaundice for 2 weeks.

Hepatitis B in Heart Transplant Donors and Recipients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Introduction: Expanding the heart donor pool to include patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV) could help ameliorate the organ shortage in heart transplantation. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the management and recipient outcomes of D+/R- and D-/R+ heart transplants.

Methods: An electronic search was performed to identify all relevant studies published on heart transplants involving HBV+ donors and/or HBV+ recipients.

Acute Liver Failure Requiring Liver Transplantation due to Acute Hepatitis A Virus Infection.

Introduction: Hepatitis A infection (HAV) is generally characterized by an acute icteric illness or may have a subclinical self-limited course, although rarely, can result in fulminant hepatitis and death. In 2019, the City of Philadelphia declared a public health emergency due to an HAV outbreak. We are reporting a series of four cases of acute liver failure (ALF) requiring liver transplantation (LT) due to acute HAV.

Duodenal Perforation With Transplant Hepatic Artery Pseudoaneurysm.

A transplant hepatic artery pseudoaneurysm is a rare postorthotopic liver transplant complication. Bleeding is a common complication of posterior duodenal ulcer secondary to erosion into the gastroduodenal artery. We report the case of a post-transplant patient who presented with massive upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage in the setting of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug use.

A Head CT is Unnecessary in the Initial Evaluation of A Cirrhotic Patient with Recurrent Hepatic Encephalopathy.

Introduction And Aim: The evaluation to determine the cause of hepatic encephalopathy consists primarily of laboratory testing to rule out infections and metabolic causes. Despite lack of evidence, it is a common practice amongst clinicians to obtain a head CT as part of their initial evaluation in a cirrhotic presenting with recurrent episodes of hepatic encephalopathy.

Material And Methods: Medical records of all cirrhotic adults admitted to a tertiary care hospital from 2007 to 2010 with hepatic encephalopathy were reviewed.

Pre-Liver Transplant Muscle Loss Is a Risk Factor for Post-Liver Transplantation Left Ventricular Systolic Dysfunction.

BACKGROUND The development of left ventricular systolic dysfunction (LVSD) after liver transplant (LT) can result in increased morbidity and mortality in the immediate period following liver transplant. The aim of this study was to evaluate low muscle mass due to chronic liver disease, as a potential risk factor for LVSD after LT. MATERIAL AND METHODS A retrospective chart review was completed for all adult patients who received a liver transplant between January 2002 and January 2015 at a single academic LT center.

Distribution of serum concentrations reported for macroenzyme aspartate aminotransferase (macro-AST).

Background: The presence of macroenzyme (M) is often the explanation of an isolated elevation of aspartate aminotransferase (AST). Where M is identified, it is reasonable for the clinician to ask where an individual patient's result fits in with known concentrations of M. In this context, we conducted a survey of literature to examine the distribution of reported serum concentrations of macro-AST.

Listing Practices for Morbidly Obese Patients at Liver Transplantation Centers in the United States.

Objectives: The effect of morbid obesity on liver transplant outcomes has yielded mixed results. The aim of this study was to determine listing practices for morbidly obese patients at liver transplant centers in the United States.

Materials And Methods: A 19-item survey was created to assess liver transplant evaluation and listing practices for morbidly obese patients.

Liver and Kidney Transplantation: A Half-Century Historical Perspective.

This article describes the evolution of solid organ kidney and liver transplantation and expounds on the challenges and successes that the early transplant researchers and clinicians encountered. The article highlights the surgical pioneers, delves into the milestones of enhanced immunosuppression protocols, discusses key federal legislative and policy changes, and expounds on the ongoing disparities of organ supply and demand and the need for extended criteria and live donor organs to combat these shortages. Finally, recent changes in organ allocation and distribution policies are discussed.

Granular Cell Tumor of the Common Hepatic Duct as an Unusual Cause of Jaundice in a Hepatitis C Patient.

A 33-year-old woman with a history of intravenous cocaine abuse presented with fatigue, nausea, and jaundice. Serologic testing revealed a positive hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibody and HCV RNA. Ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging/magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography showed a partially obstructing lesion in the common hepatic duct, which was confirmed by endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography.

Acute autoimmune hepatitis presenting with peripheral blood eosinophilia.

 Peripheral blood eosinophilia has been described in a broad variety of allergic, infectious, neoplastic and autoimmune diseases. To the best of our knowledge blood eosinophilia has never previously been reported in association with isolated autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) in the absence of other autoimmune conditions. Herein we report an interesting case of an 18 year old man who presented to our hospital with an acute autoimmune hepatitis diagnosed on the basis of clinical features, serology and histopathology.

Liver transplantation in the 21st century: expanding the donor options.

Over the past decade, use of ECD organs for OLT has allowed many transplant programs to afford patients access to an otherwise scarce resource and to maintain center volume. Although overall posttransplant outcomes are inferior to results with optimal, whole-liver grafts, aggressive utilization of ECD and DCD organs significantly lowers median wait-times for OLT, MELD score at OLT, and death while awaiting transplantation. It is incumbent on the transplant community to provide continued scrutiny of the many factors involved in ECD organ utilization, evaluate the degree of risk and benefit such allografts may impart on particular recipients, and thereby provide suitable “matching” to maximize favorable outcomes.

The impact of biopsychosocial factors on quality of life: women with primary biliary cirrhosis on waiting list and post liver transplantation.

Objectives: Primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) is the second most common reason for liver transplants among women in the USA. While survival rates are high, there is evidence of persistent problems post-transplant. This study aimed to identify significant contributors to quality of life (QOL) for women with PBC on waiting list (WL) and post-transplant (PT) and compare QOL in each group with US population norms.

Liver disease in pregnancy.

This article briefly discusses gestational physiologic changes and thereafter reviews liver diseases during pregnancy, which are divided into 3 main categories. The first category includes conditions that are unique to pregnancy and generally resolve with the termination of pregnancy, the second category includes liver diseases that are not unique to the pregnant population but occur commonly or are severely affected by pregnancy, and the third category includes diseases that occur coincidentally with pregnancy and in patients with underlying chronic liver disease, with cirrhosis, or after liver transplant who become pregnant.

Uncertainty and liver transplantation: women with primary biliary cirrhosis before and after transplant.

Uncertainty is a frequent feature of chronic illness and can have a particularly important impact in the case of organ transplantation. This study of 100 women with primary biliary cirrhosis who were either waiting for or had already had a liver transplant focused on both changes in uncertainty with transplant and the correlates of uncertainty both pre- and post-transplant. While those who were post-transplant had significantly lower uncertainty scores (measured by the Mishel Uncertainty in Illness Scale-Adult Version-MUIS-A) than those on the waiting list, uncertainty was still persistent and associated with a reduced quality of life.

Portal hypertension and variceal hemorrhage.

Portal hypertension is a progressively debilitating complication of cirrhosis and a principal cause of mortality in patients who have hepatic decompensation. This article describes the classification system and pathophysiology of portal hypertension. It also discusses a practical approach to prevention of first variceal hemorrhage, general management of the acute bleeding episode, and secondary prophylaxis to prevent rebleeding.

The ACE gene I/D polymorphism does not affect the susceptibility to or prognosis of PBC.

Background/aims: Primary biliary cirrhosis is an autoimmune liver disease that is strongly influenced by poorly defined, complex genetic factors. Alterations of the renin-angiotensin system have been implicated in the pathogenesis of various diseases. A deletion polymorphism of a 287-bp fragment of intron 16 of the angiotensin converting enzyme gene allele results in higher levels of circulating enzyme.