Significance of the C-caffeine breath test for patients with cirrhosis.

Background: The 13C-caffeine breath test (CBT) is a non-invasive, quantitative test of liver function which has been shown to correlate inversely to the Child-Pugh score. The aim of the study was to determine the utility of CBT in the assessment of cirrhosis and its correlation to the model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) score.

Methods: Thirty-nine patients, 29 with cirrhosis and 10 with chronic liver disease without cirrhosis, and 8 healthy volunteers were included.

Liver function breath tests for differentiation of steatohepatitis from simple fatty liver in patients with nonalcoholic Fatty liver disease.

Goals: We investigated the utility of liver function breath tests [C-Aminopyrine Breath Test (C-ABT), C-Galactose Breath Test (C-GBT)], for the diagnosis of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) among nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) patients.

Background: Liver biopsy is currently the gold standard for the differentiation between simple fatty liver (NAFL) and NASH in NAFLD patients.

Materials And Methods: Thirty-six patients with histologically proven NAFLD (NAFL:16, NASH:20) underwent C-ABT and C-GBT.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease may develop in individuals with normal body mass index.

Background: Although non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is associated with obesity and metabolic syndrome (MS), it may also be present in lean individuals. We evaluated the characteristics of NAFLD patients, focusing on those with normal body mass index (BMI).

Methods: One hundred and sixty-two of 185 consecutive NAFLD patients were included (23 were excluded due to missing data).