Publications by authors named "Eric Chak"

Article Synopsis
  • The study examines the link between liver disease type (alcohol-related vs non-alcohol-related) and 6-week mortality following acute variceal bleeding (AVB) in patients with cirrhosis.
  • Researchers analyzed data from two large cohorts in the U.S. and Singapore, including 1,349 patients, and found that non-ALD patients had a significantly higher risk of mortality compared to ALD patients.
  • Incorporating the etiology of cirrhosis into existing mortality prediction models improved accuracy, highlighting the importance of considering the type of liver disease for patient care.
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Background & Aims: Bepirovirsen, an antisense oligonucleotide, induces sustained reductions in hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and HBV DNA to below the lower limit of quantification (
Methods: In this phase IIb, multicentre, open-label trial, participants on stable nucleos(t)ide analogue (NA) therapy were randomised 1:1 to bepirovirsen 300 mg once weekly (plus loading dose on Days 4 and 11) for 24 (Arm 1) or 12 (Arm 2) weeks followed by Peg-IFN 180 μg once weekly for up to 24 weeks, with up to 36 weeks follow-up.

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Background: Acute variceal hemorrhage is a major decompensating event in patients with cirrhosis and is associated with high 6-week mortality risk. Many prognostic models based on clinical and laboratory parameters have been developed to risk stratify patients on index bleeding presentation, including those based on the Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) and Child-Turcotte-Pugh (CTP). However, consensus on model performance remains unclear.

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A 68-year-old woman with stage III colon cancer status after right hemicolectomy and adjuvant FOLFOX (5-fluorouracil/leucovorin/oxaliplatin) chemotherapy was hospitalized for melena and found to have new-onset esophageal and gastric varices on esophagogastroduodenoscopy. Her workup did not reveal an underlying liver disease, but her liver biopsy showed noncirrhotic portal hypertension from obliterative portal venopathy (OPV). The development of OPV is likely from her use of oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy.

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Background: Fresh frozen plasma (FFP) transfusion is often used in the management of acute variceal haemorrhage (AVH) despite best practice advice suggesting otherwise.

Objective: We investigated if FFP transfusion affects clinical outcomes in AVH.

Design, Setting And Patients: We performed a retrospective cohort study of 244 consecutive, eligible patients admitted to five tertiary health care centres between 2013 and 2018 with AVH.

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To measure the effect of an electronic health record (EHR) alert on chronic hepatitis B (CHB) screening among at-risk Asian and Pacific Islanders (API). API patients who had not yet completed hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) testing were identified by a novel EHR-based population health tool. At-risk API patients in Cohort 1 (primarily privately insured) and Cohort 2 (includes Medicare and/or Medicaid) were randomized to alert activation in their electronic medical charts or not.

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Background: Racial disparities have been reported in liver transplantation and chronic hepatitis C treatment outcomes. Determining causes of these disparities is important given the racially diverse American population and the economic burden associated with chronic liver disease.

Methods: A retrospective study was performed among 463 patients diagnosed with cirrhosis admitted from (January 1, 2013 to January 1, 2018) to a tertiary care academic medical center.

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Chronic hepatitis B (CHB) disproportionately affects non-US born Asians. The Hmong have been shown to have the highest rates of CHB and mortality from liver cancer compared to other Asian groups. From September 2014 to September 2017, testing for CHB within Sacramento County was conducted through community-based testing events and an electronic health record alert that identified Asian patients by surname.

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Abdominal ascites is most commonly caused by portal hypertension from liver cirrhosis. When present, portal hypertension is associated with an elevated serum-ascites albumin gradient (SAAG) ≥1.1 g/dL.

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Implementation of screening recommendations for chronic hepatitis B (CHB) among foreign-born persons at risk has been sub-optimal. The use of alerts and reminders in the electronic health record (EHR) has led to increased screening for other common conditions. The aim of our study was to measure the effectiveness of an EHR alert on the implementation of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) screening of foreign-born Asian and Pacific Islander (API) patients.

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Crohn's disease is a chronic, idiopathic autoimmune disorder that primarily targets the gastrointestinal (GI) system. It is characterized by transmural inflammation of the GI tract that can occur anywhere from the mouth to the anus. Not infrequently, the disease may also have extraintestinal manifestations (EIMs) that can affect almost any organ system.

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Aim: To describe racial/ethnic differences in treatment and survival among liver cancer patients in a population-based cancer registry.

Methods: Invasive cases of primary hepatocellular carcinoma, = 33270, diagnosed between January 1, 1988-December 31, 2012 and reported to the California Cancer Registry were analyzed by race/ethnicity, age, gender, geographical region, socio-economic status, time period of diagnosis, stage, surgical treatment, and survival. Patients were classified into 15 racial/ethnic groups: non-Hispanic White (White, = 12710), Hispanic ( = 8500), Chinese ( = 2723), non-Hispanic Black (Black, = 2609), Vietnamese ( = 2063), Filipino ( = 1479), Korean ( = 1099), Japanese ( = 658), American Indian/Alaskan Native (AIAN, = 281), Laotian/Hmong ( = 244), Cambodian ( = 233), South Asian ( = 190), Hawai`ian/Pacific Islander ( = 172), Thai ( = 95), and Other Asian ( = 214).

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Chronic hepatitis B (CHB) and C (CHC) represent significant public health problems worldwide. Combined, over 7 million persons in the USA are chronically infected with either the hepatitis B or the hepatitis C virus. Although the populations affected by the viruses differ, both CHB and CHC are ideal conditions for preventive screening because of a high prevalence and low rate of diagnosis; an early asymptomatic period; highly sensitive and specific test; and treatments which have been shown to result in improved clinical outcomes including liver-related mortality and hepatocellular carcinoma.

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The recent National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) sampled only the civilian, non-institutionalized population of USA and may have underestimated the prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) in this country. We searched the database MEDLINE, the Bureau of Justice Statistics, Center for Medicare and Medicaid and individual states Department of Corrections for all epidemiological studies regarding the prevalence of HCV in populations not sampled by the NHANES survey namely the incarcerated, homeless, nursing home residents, hospitalized and those on active military duty. Because of their relatively low frequency in the NHANES sample, we also expanded our search to include healthcare workers and long-term dialysis patients.

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Hepatitis C virus (HCV) affects about 170 million people worldwide and is the most common chronic blood borne infection in the United States. Since the advent of blood screening protocols in the early 1990s, injection drug use has become the leading cause of infection. Hepatitis C can have both hepatic and nonhepatic manifestations of infection.

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Orthotopic liver transplant (OLT) is an established life saving procedure for both acute and chronic liver failure, but incidences and risk factors for development of these malignancies are yet to be established. To determine the incidences and risk factors associated with de novo malignancy after OLT. We performed a systematic review of relevant epidemiological studies available on MEDLINE, which provided information on the incidences and risk factors for the development malignancies in adult OLT recipients published from 1983 to 2009.

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During pregnancy, the energy requirements of the fetus impose changes in maternal metabolism. Increasing insulin resistance in the mother maintains nutrient flow to the growing fetus, whereas prolactin and placental lactogen counterbalance this resistance and prevent maternal hyperglycemia by driving expansion of the maternal population of insulin-producing beta cells. However, the exact mechanisms by which the lactogenic hormones drive beta cell expansion remain uncertain.

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Background: The benefits of breast-feeding for the prevention of infection in infants and young children have been widely recognized, but epidemiologic studies regarding the role of breast-feeding in protecting against Helicobacter pylori infection have produced conflicting results.

Methods: We performed a systematic review of relevant epidemiologic studies conducted during the period 1984-2007 after abstracting data from articles that met our inclusion criteria. Study quality was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa scale.

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