Liver stiffness predicts progression to liver-related events in patients with chronic liver disease - A cohort study of 14 414 patients.

Background & Aims: Liver stiffness measurement (LSM) by vibration-controlled transient elastography (VCTE) is a non-invasive diagnostic biomarker of liver fibrosis. It is uncertain if LSM can predict risk for future liver-related outcomes in large, heterogenous populations.

Methods: This Swedish multi-centre cohort study included patients (n = 14 414) from 16 sites who underwent LSM by VCTE between 2008 and 2020.

Low prevalence of transmitted drug resistance in patients newly diagnosed with HIV-1 infection in Sweden 2003-2010.

Transmitted drug resistance (TDR) is a clinical and epidemiological problem because it may contribute to failure of antiretroviral treatment. The prevalence of TDR varies geographically, and its prevalence in Sweden during the last decade has not been reported. Plasma samples from 1,463 patients newly diagnosed with HIV-1 infection between 2003 and 2010, representing 44% of all patients diagnosed in Sweden during this period, were analyzed using the WHO 2009 list of mutations for surveillance of TDR.

Non-linear mixed effects modeling of antiretroviral drug response after administration of lopinavir, atazanavir and efavirenz containing regimens to treatment-naïve HIV-1 infected patients.

The objective of this analysis was to compare three methods of handling HIV-RNA data below the limit of quantification (LOQ) when describing the time-course of antiretroviral drug response using a drug-disease model. Treatment naïve Scandinavian HIV-positive patients (n = 242) were randomized to one of three study arms. Two nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors were administrated in combination with 400/100 mg lopinavir/ritonavir twice daily, 300/100 mg atazanavir/ritonavir once a day or 600 mg efavirenz once a day.

Malaria and anemia.

Anemia due to infection is a major health problem in endemic areas for young children and pregnant women. The anemia is caused by excess removal of nonparasitized erythrocytes in addition to immune destruction of parasitized red cells, and impaired compensation for this loss by bone marrow dysfunction. The pathogenesis is complex, and a predominant mechanism has not been identified.