The right ventricle outflow tract systolic function could predict the severity of the cirrhosis.

Background/aim: The distinctive liver framework is converted into structurally abnormal nodules as a consequence of tissue fibrosis in cirrhosis. Cardiac dysfunction in cirrhosis was described, and the term "cirrhotic cardiomyopathy (CCM)" was coined to describe this syndrome. Recent research has shown that the contractile characteristics of the right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT) have a significant impact on right ventricular functions.

In a Real-Life Setting, Direct-Acting Antivirals to People Who Inject Drugs with Chronic Hepatitis C in Turkey.

Background: People who inject drugs (PWID) should be treated in order to eliminate hepatitis C virus in the world. The aim of this study was to compare direct-acting antivirals treatment of hepatitis C virus for PWID and non-PWID in a real-life setting.

Methods: We performed a prospective, non-randomized, observational multicenter cohort study in 37 centers.

Characteristics of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma: A multicenter study.

Background And Aim: The aim of the present study was to examine the etiology of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) by underlying cause and determine the characteristics and clinical features of patients with HCC.

Materials And Methods: The study comprised 1802 HCC patients diagnosed and followed up by Liver Diseases Outpatient Clinics in 14 tertiary centers in Turkey between 2001 and 2020.

Results: The mean age was 62.

Efficacy and Safety of Direct-Acting Antivirals in Elderly Patients with Chronic Hepatitis C: A Nationwide Real-Life, Observational, Multicenter Study from Turkey.

Background: The number and proportion of elderly patients living with chronic hepatitis C are expected to increase in the coming years. We aimed to compare the real-world efficacy and safety of direct-acting antiviral treatment in elderly and younger Turkish adults infected with chronic hepatitis C.

Methods: In this multicenter prospective study, 2629 eligible chronic hepatitis C patients treated with direct-acting antivirals between April 2017 and December 2019 from 37 Turkish referral centers were divided into 2 age groups: elderly (≥65 years) and younger adults (<65 years) and their safety was compared between 2 groups in evaluable population.

Beliefs About Medicines and Adherence to Treatment in Turkish Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

Background: Although studies are investigating the perception and beliefs about treatment and adherence to treatment in different societies related to inflammatory bowel disease, there are no studies on this subject in Turkish people with different sociocultural structures. In our study, we aimed to evaluate the beliefs about treatment and its effect on adherence to treatment in the Turkish population with inflammatory bowel disease.

Methods: In the study, the "Medication Adherence Report Scale" and "Beliefs about Medicines Scale" scales were used to evaluate the treatment compliance and perception and beliefs about treatment.

Gamma-glutamyl-transferase may predict COVID-19 outcomes in hospitalised patients.

Aim: In this study, we aimed to define the predictive role of liver function tests at admission to the hospital in outcomes of hospitalised patients with COVID-19.

Material And Method: In this multicentric retrospective study, a total of 269 adult patients (≥18 years of age) with confirmed COVID-19 who were hospitalised for the treatment were enrolled. Demographic features, complete medical history and laboratory findings of the study participants at admission were obtained from the medical records.

Is there any link between atrial arrhythmias and inflammatory bowel disease?

Background: Inflammation plays an important role in the development of cardiovascular disease, including atherosclerosis and arrhythmia. The aim of this study was to evaluate atrial conduction times (ACTs) in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in which systemic chronic inflammation is evident.

Methods: In this cross-sectional, prospective, single-center study, 79 IBD patients (51 ulcerative colitis; 28 Crohn's disease) and 70 healthy controls were included.

Comparison of the Efficacy of Entecavir and Tenofovir in Reducing Hepatocellular Carcinoma Risk in Chronic Hepatitis B Patients: A Real-Life Study in Turkey.

Background: It is controversial whether entecavir or tenofovir differs in reducing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) risk. We aimed to compare the efficacy of entecavir and tenofovir in reducing HCC risk in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients.

Methods: This retrospective study included 607 nucleos(t)ide naive CHB patients who had received entecavir or tenofovir.

Long-term proton pump inhibitor use is a risk factor for mortality in patients hospitalized for COVID-19.

Background And Aim: The aim of this study is to evaluate whether the long-term (≥4 weeks) use of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) is a risk factor for intubation requirement and mortality in patients hospitalized for COVID-19.

Materials And Methods: In this multicentric retrospective study, a total of 382 adult patients (≥18 years of age) with confirmed COVID-19 who were hospitalized for treatment were enrolled. The patients were divided into two groups according to the periods during which they used PPIs: the first group included patients who were not on PPI treatment, and the second group included those who have used PPIs for more than 4 weeks.

Preliminary examination of the relations between disease stage, illness perceptions, coping strategies, and psychological morbidity in chronic hepatitis B and C guided by the Common-Sense Model of Illness.

Background And Aims: Chronic viral hepatitis (CVH) has a spectrum from asymptomatic disease to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. In our study, we aimed to establish the relations between disease stage, illness perception, coping strategies and psychological morbidity in CVH.

Methods: A total of 182 patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) (n = 136) and chronic hepatitis C (CHC) (n = 46) were enrolled.

Validation of the HCC-RESCUE score to predict hepatocellular carcinoma risk in Caucasian chronic hepatitis B patients under entecavir or tenofovir therapy.

The HCC-RESCUE score was developed to predict hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) risk in Korean chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients under entecavir therapy. We aimed to validate the HCC-RESCUE score to predict HCC risk in Caucasian CHB patients under entecavir or tenofovir therapy and to compare the predictive performance of the HCC-RESCUE score with those of the CAMD, PAGE-B and modified PAGE-B (mPAGE-B) scores. The study included 647 nucleos(t)ide analogue-naive noncirrhotic and compensated/decompensated cirrhotic patients who had received entecavir or tenofovir for ≥6 months and did not develop HCC during the first 6 months of therapy.

Evaluation of epicardial adipose tissue and carotid intima-media thickness as a marker of atherosclerosis in patients with inflammatory bowel disease.

Background And Aim: this study aimed to compare carotid intima media (CIMT) and epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) measurements, which are considered as markers for the detection of early atherosclerosis in healthy controls and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) cases.

Methods: a total of 60 IBD patients (25 Crohn's disease and 35 ulcerative colitis) and 60 healthy patients (as a control group) were included in the study. The measurements of CIMT and EAT were performed using echocardiography and ultrasonography, respectively.

Social stigmatization in Turkish patients with chronic hepatitis B and C.

Background And Aim: Viral hepatitis is the most important cause of chronic hepatitis worldwide. Stigmatization is defined as a feeling of rejection and isolation of patients by society due to illness. There are no studies on chronic viral hepatitis in the literature in English, which has its own religious and socio-cultural structure.

Combination of Novel c.3484G> T/p.Glu162Ter Variant in and c.208G> A/p.Asp70Asn Variant in Are Associated with Severe Symptoms in Progressive Family Intrahepatic Cholestasis.

Progressive family intrahepatic cholestasis (PFIC) is an autosomal recessive disease that causes chronic cholestasis. It is associated with pathogenic variants in genes that encode proteins involved in bile secretion to canaliculus from hepatocytes. In this study, we present a 16-year-old boy who presented with severe pruritus and cholestatic jaundice.

Epidemiologic features of ınflammatory bowel disease in Western Blacksea region of Turkey for the last 10 years: retrospective cohort study.

Background/aims: There are only a few epidemiological study about inflammatory bowel disease in the last 10 years in Turkey, especially in Western Blacksea region. In our study, we aimed to identify the changes in the incidence and the prevalence of inflammatory bowel disease in Western Blacksea region at the last 10 years.

Methods: Totally 223 patients with inf lammatory bowel disease (160 ulcerative colitis, 63 Crohn's disease) were enrolled in the study followed up between 2004 to 2013 years.

Investigation of IL23R, JAK2, and STAT3 gene polymorphisms and gene-gene interactions in Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis in a Turkish population.

Background/aims: Inflammatory bowel diseases are chronic, relapsing, inflammatory conditions. They have a genetic backround resulting in patient susceptibility. The aim of our study is to investigate the involvement of IL23R, JAK2, and STAT3 polymorphisms in inflammatory bowel diseases in a Turkish population.

Age-based computer-aided diagnosis approach for pancreatic cancer on endoscopic ultrasound images.

Aim: The aim was to develop a high-performance computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) system with image processing and pattern recognition in diagnosing pancreatic cancer by using endosonography images.

Materials And Methods: On the images, regions of interest (ROI) of three groups of patients (<40, 40-60 and >60) were extracted by experts; features were obtained from images using three different techniques and were trained separately for each age group with an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) to diagnose cancer. The study was conducted on endosonography images of 202 patients with pancreatic cancer and 130 noncancer patients.

Chronic hepatitis B associated with hepatic steatosis, insulin resistance, necroinflammation and fibrosis.

Background: The effect of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection on fatty liver disease is unclear.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the viral and host causes of fatty liver in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients. This study included 88 CHB patients of which 17 were not treated.

The efficacy of tyrosine kinase inhibitor dasatinib on colonic mucosal damage in murine model of colitis.

Background And Objective: Ulcerative colitis is an inflammatory condition of the colon in the gastrointestinal system. Currently, the most potent medications used for ulcerative colitis produce no response in 20-30% of cases. There is a need for more efficient and reliable medications.

Efficacy of diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging in the evaluation of extrahepatic cholestasis-related hepatic fibrosis.

Background/aim: To investigate the efficacy of diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DWI) in the diagnosis and staging of fibrosis induced by experimental bile duct ligation (BDL).

Materials And Methods: Twenty-four rats were divided randomly into four groups: control, BDL--3 days, BDL--2 weeks, and BDL--4 weeks. DWI was performed with b-values of 100 and 500 on the rats from control group at day zero, on the rats from the BDL--3 days group at the end of day 3, on the rats from the BDL--2 weeks group at the end of day 14, and on the rats from the BDL--4 weeks at the end of day 28.

Bactericidal permeability increasing protein gene polymorphism is associated with inflammatory bowel diseases in the Turkish population.

Background/aims: Inflammatory bowel disease, a chronic inflammatory disease with unknown etiology, affects the small and large bowel at different levels. It is increasingly considered that innate immune system may have a central position in the pathogenesis of the disease. As a part of the innate immune system, bactericidal permeability increasing protein has an important role in the recognition and neutralization of gram-negative bacteria.

Spleen tyrosine kinase (Syk) inhibitor fostamatinib limits tissue damage and fibrosis in a bleomycin-induced scleroderma mouse model.

Objectives: The pathogenesis of fibrosis in scleroderma (SSc) is unknown. TGF-β and platelet-derived growth factor are important in the development of fibrosis and tyrosine kinases are involved in these pathways. The possible antifibrotic effects of various kinase inhibitors in SSc have been studied before.

The Syk Inhibitor Fostamatinib Decreases the Severity of Colonic Mucosal Damage in a Rodent Model of Colitis.

Background And Aims: Inflammatory bowel disease is a chronic inflammatory disease of the gastrointestinal system. In some cases, current medications used for inflammatory bowel disease may not be enough for remission, creating a need for more potent and reliable medications. There is no study showing the efficacy of fostamatinib, with proven effects on some inflammatory diseases, on ulcerative colitis.