[An exceptional and misleading case of choledochal cyst].

The authors report a case of choledocal cyst extended to left and right hepatic ducts. An heterogeneous intracystic fluid, partial calcification of cystic wall, a slight positivity of echinoccosis serology in a patient from a highly endemic country erroneously led to diagnosis of hydatid cyst invading the left hepatic duct. The diagnosis of choledocal cyst was done on the resection specimen after left hepatectomy.

Serum leptin in patients with alcoholic liver disease.

Background: The mechanisms by which overweight makes the liver more susceptible to alcoholic liver injury remain to be determined. Therefore, we conducted the following studies to further elucidate the role of leptin in the pathogenesis of steatosis and cirrhosis caused by chronic alcohol consumption in human beings.

Methods: Two-hundred nine consecutive patients with alcoholic liver disease were studied.

The diagnostic value of biomarkers (AshTest) for the prediction of alcoholic steato-hepatitis in patients with chronic alcoholic liver disease.

Background/aims: The aim was to identify a panel of biomarkers (AshTest) for the diagnosis of alcoholic steato-hepatitis (ASH), in patients with chronic alcoholic liver disease.

Methods: Biomarkers were assessed in patients with an alcohol intake>50 g/d, in a training group, and in two validation groups. Diagnosis of ASH (polymorphonuclear infiltrate and hepatocellular necrosis) and its histological severity (four classes: none, mild, moderate and severe) were assessed blindly.

Bronchoalveolar lavage cytological alveolar damage in patients with severe pneumonia.

Introduction: Histological examination of lung specimens from patients with pneumonia shows the presence of desquamated pneumocytes and erythrophages. We hypothesized that these modifications should also be present in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BAL) from patients with hospital-acquired pneumonia.

Methods: We conducted a prospective study in mechanically ventilated patients with clinical suspicion of pneumonia.

Biomarkers for the prediction of liver fibrosis in patients with chronic alcoholic liver disease.

Background & Aims: The aim of this study was to determine the diagnostic use of noninvasive markers of fibrosis in patients with chronic alcoholic liver disease.

Methods: A total of 221 consecutive patients with an alcohol intake of >50 g/day (median, 100 g/day) and available liver biopsy examination and FibroTest FibroSure (FT) results were included prospectively. Fibrosis was assessed blindly on a 5-stage histologic scale similar to that of the METAVIR scoring system.

[Primary leiomyoma of the liver: a rare benign tumor].

Primary hepatic leiomyoma is a very rare tumor secondary to benign smooth muscle proliferation. The primary location in the liver is usually found in adult women. A 36-year-old woman with right upper quadrant abdominal pain had primary hepatic leiomyoma.