Irreversible alopecia universalis during treatment with pegylated interferon-ribavirin for chronic hepatitis C virus infection: Case report and published work review.

Hair disorders that have been described in association with pegylated interferon-ribavirin combination treatment include canities, hypertrichosis, telogen effluvium, and the most common cutaneous side-effect by far, alopecia. Alopecia is a heterogeneous disease characterized by hair loss on the scalp or any hair-bearing surface with a wide range of clinical presentations, from a single patch of hair loss to complete loss of hair on the entire body (alopecia universalis). Although some cases of reversible alopecia universalis associated with pegylated interferon-ribavirin combination therapy have been reported in the published work, irreversible alopecia universalis has not yet been reported in relation to pegylated interferon and ribavirin combination treatment.

Prediction of asymptomatic cirrhosis in chronic hepatitis C patients: accuracy of artificial neural networks compared with logistic regression models.

Objective: Models based on logistic regression analysis are proposed as noninvasive tools to predict cirrhosis in chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients. However, none showed to be sufficiently accurate to replace liver biopsy. Artificial neural networks (ANNs), providing a prediction based on nonlinear algorithms, can improve the diagnosis of cirrhosis, a syndrome characterized by complex, nonlinear biological alterations.

Nadolol is superior to isosorbide mononitrate for the prevention of the first variceal bleeding in cirrhotic patients with ascites.

Background/aims: beta-blockers effectively prevent first variceal bleeding (FVB) in cirrhotic patients. In patients with ascites, however, their use might be precluded by a high rate of contraindications and side effects. We compared the efficacy and applicability of nadolol and isosorbide-mononitrate (IsMn) in preventing FVB in a population of cirrhotic patients at high risk of variceal bleeding with ascites, who can be frequently intolerant to beta-blockers.