Extrahepatic autoimmune diseases in primary biliary cholangitis: Prevalence and significance for clinical presentation and disease outcome.

Background And Aim: The prevalence and clinical significance of extrahepatic autoimmune diseases (EHAIDs) have not been evaluated in a large cohort of primary biliary cholangitis (PBC).

Methods: The medical records of 1554 patients with PBC from 20 international centers were retrospectively reviewed. Development of decompensated cirrhosis (ascites, variceal bleeding, and/or hepatic encephalopathy) and hepatocellular carcinoma were considered clinical endpoints.

Validation of Risk Scoring Systems in Ursodeoxycholic Acid-Treated Patients With Primary Biliary Cholangitis.

Introduction: Risk stratification based on biochemical variables is a useful tool for monitoring ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA)-treated patients with primary biliary cholangitis (PBC). Several UDCA response criteria and scoring systems have been proposed for risk prediction in PBC, but these have not been validated in large external cohorts.

Methods: We performed a study on data of 1746 UDCA-treated patients with PBC from 25 centers in Europe, United States, and Canada.

Occult central pontine myelinolysis post liver transplant: A consequence of pre-transplant hyponatremia.

Rapid overcorrection of chronic hyponatremia can lead to osmotic demyelination syndrome or central pontine myelinolysis (CPM), a diagnosis often triggered by observing the characteristics of neurological abnormalities developed as a result of CPM. However, anyone with chronic hyponatremia and overcorrection of serum sodium is at risk of physiological CPM despite the lack of clinical symptoms. We report an adult patient who presented as post-op delirium, had incidental finding of CPM by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the head after a liver transplant.

In-hospital post-transplant acute hepatitis A viral (HAV) infection in a liver transplant recipient who was HAV seropositive pre-transplant.

Acute hepatitis A viral (HAV) infection is rare in the liver transplant population due to recommended pre-transplant vaccinations. We report a case of acute hepatitis A infection in a liver transplant recipient. This individual had immunity to hepatitis A with protective IgG antibodies and presented with abnormal liver biochemistry in the post-transplant in-patient setting.