STAR LIGHT Study: XBB.1.5 COVID-19 mRNA Vaccines Boost Systemic but Not Mucosal Immunity Against the SARS-CoV-2 JN.1 Variant in Patients with Chronic Liver Disease.

Background: Patients with chronic liver disease (CLD) have impaired vaccine immunogenicity and an excess risk of severe COVID-19. While variant-adapted COVID-19 mRNA vaccines are recommended for vulnerable individuals, their efficacy in patients with CLD has not been studied.

Methods: We present the first evaluation of XBB.

Presence of autoantibodies in serum does not impact the occurrence of immune checkpoint inhibitor-induced hepatitis in a prospective cohort of cancer patients.

Purpose: Immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI)-induced hepatitis belongs to the frequently occurring immune-related adverse events (irAEs), particularly with the combination therapy involving ipilimumab and nivolumab. However, predisposing factors predicting the occurrence of ICI-induced hepatitis are barely known. We investigated the association of preexisting autoantibodies in the development of ICI-induced hepatitis in a prospective cohort of cancer patients.

[Abdominal Pain Caused by Viral Infection Is Not Always Trivial].

Abdominal Pain Caused by Viral Infection Is Not Always Trivial We report on a 28-year-old previously healthy patient with initially elevated temperature and cough and developing most severe epigastric pain and peritonism in the right upper abdomen. A "bedside" sonography revealed a portal vein thrombosis, the CT additionally partial thromboses of the vena lienalis, vena mesenterica superior. During the examination, a SARS-CoV-2 infection (IgM, IgG) was confirmed.

[Sonographic Wall Changes of the Stone-Free Gall Bladder - a Diagnostic and Therapeutic Dilemma].

Sonographic Wall Changes of the Stone-Free Gall Bladder - a Diagnostic and Therapeutic Dilemma Various diseases frequently cause sonographic abnormalities of the gallbladder wall and its surroundings. The interpretation of these abnormalities is often a great challenge for the treating physician and will be briefly discussed here. In our patient these abnormalities are due to hepatitis A, which is responsible for multiple extrahepatic manifestations.

Controlled attenuation parameter for the assessment of liver steatosis in comparison with liver histology: a single-centre real life experience.

Background And Aims: Accurate diagnosis and staging of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease are essential for the management of this disorder. Controlled attenuation parameter (CAP) has been suggested as a new noninvasive measurement made during transient elastography to assess liver steatosis. The aim of this study was to evaluate CAP as a diagnostic tool for identifying the presence and degree of hepatic steatosis in consecutive patients in an outpatient liver unit of a tertiary centre.

Excellent outcome of direct antiviral treatment for chronic hepatitis C in Switzerland.

Background: The introduction of direct acting antivirals (DAAs) for the therapy of chronic hepatitis C (CHC) has revolutionised treatment and marks a paradigm shift in the approach to this disease, rendering interferon-based therapies obsolete.

Aims Of The Study: We retrospectively and prospectively evaluated treatment results after the introduction of DAA in Switzerland in a cohort of patients with CHC.

Methods: We examined 565 patients who received DAA treatment for CHC between November 2013 and June 2016 with regard to HCV genotype, fibrosis stadium, treatment and outcome.

Direct antiviral agent treatment of chronic hepatitis C results in rapid regression of transient elastography and fibrosis markers fibrosis-4 score and aspartate aminotransferase-platelet ratio index.

Background: Novel direct antiviral agents (DAA) targeting hepatitis C virus (HCV) have revolutionized the treatment of chronic hepatitis C infection (CHC). Rates of sustained virological response (SVR) to treatment have drastically improved since introduction of DAA. Transient Elastography (TE) is an ultrasound based, non-invasive technique to assess liver stiffness (LS).