COVID-19 infection among international travellers: a prospective analysis.

Objectives: This report estimates the risk of COVID-19 importation and secondary transmission associated with a modified quarantine programme in Canada.

Design And Participants: Prospective analysis of international asymptomatic travellers entering Alberta, Canada.

Interventions: All participants were required to receive a PCR COVID-19 test on arrival.

Differential Effect of Genetic Burden on Disease Phenotypes in Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis in a Canadian Cohort.

Background And Aims: Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) demonstrate considerable phenotypic heterogeneity and course. Accurate predictors of disease behaviour are lacking. The contribution of genetics and specific polymorphisms is widely appreciated; however, their cumulative effect(s) upon disease behaviour remains poorly understood.

Preoperative Ustekinumab Treatment Is Not Associated With Increased Postoperative Complications in Crohn's Disease: A Canadian Multi-Centre Observational Cohort Study.

Background: Ustekinumab (UST), an anti-IL12/23 inhibitor is indicated for moderate-to-severe Crohn's disease (CD). However, it is unclear if patients treated with UST are at increased risk for postoperative complications.

Aim: To evaluate the postoperative safety outcomes in UST-treated CD patients.

Magnetic resonance imaging evidence of hippocampal structural changes in patients with primary biliary cholangitis.

Introduction: Behavioral symptoms are commonly reported by patients with primary biliary cholangitis (PBC). In other patient populations, symptoms are commonly associated with hippocampal volume reduction linked to neuroinflammation (inferred from regional iron deposition), as demonstrated by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). We hypothesized that PBC patients would exhibit reduced volume and increased iron deposition of the hippocampus.

Primary Biliary Cholangitis Alters Functional Connections of the Brain's Deep Gray Matter.

Objectives: Fatigue, itch, depressed mood, and cognitive impairment significantly impact the quality of life of many patients with primary biliary cholangitis (PBC). Previous neuroimaging studies of non-hepatic diseases suggest that these symptoms are often associated with dysfunction of deep gray matter brain regions. We used resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rsfMRI) to determine whether PBC patients exhibit altered functional connections of deep gray matter.

Validation of coding algorithms for the identification of patients hospitalized for alcoholic hepatitis using administrative data.

Background: Epidemiologic studies of alcoholic hepatitis (AH) have been hindered by the lack of a validated International Classification of Disease (ICD) coding algorithm for use with administrative data. Our objective was to validate coding algorithms for AH using a hospitalization database.

Methods: The Hospital Discharge Abstract Database (DAD) was used to identify consecutive adults (≥18 years) hospitalized in the Calgary region with a diagnosis code for AH (ICD-10, K70.

Inclusion of Sarcopenia Within MELD (MELD-Sarcopenia) and the Prediction of Mortality in Patients With Cirrhosis.

Objectives: Limitations of the Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score include its failure to assess the nutritional and functional status of cirrhotic patients. Our objectives were to evaluate the impact of sarcopenia in cirrhosis and whether the inclusion of muscularity assessment within MELD could improve the prediction of mortality in patients with cirrhosis.

Methods: We included 669 cirrhotic patients who were consecutively evaluated for liver transplantation.

Risk factors for mortality in patients with alcoholic hepatitis and assessment of prognostic models: A population-based study.

Background: Severe alcoholic hepatitis (AH) is associated with a substantial risk for short-term mortality.

Objectives: To identify prognostic factors and validate well-known prognostic models in a Canadian population of patients hospitalized for AH.

Methods: In the present retrospective study, patients hospitalized for AH in Calgary, Alberta, between January 2008 and August 2012 were included.

Liver stiffness by transient elastography predicts liver-related complications and mortality in patients with chronic liver disease.

Background: Liver stiffness measurement (LSM) by transient elastography (TE, FibroScan) is a validated method for noninvasively staging liver fibrosis. Most hepatic complications occur in patients with advanced fibrosis. Our objective was to determine the ability of LSM by TE to predict hepatic complications and mortality in a large cohort of patients with chronic liver disease.

The feasibility and reliability of transient elastography using Fibroscan®: a practice audit of 2335 examinations.

Background: Liver stiffness measurement (LSM) using transient elastography is widely used in the management of patients with chronic liver disease.

Objectives: To examine the feasibility and reliability of LSM, and to identify patient and operator characteristics predictive of poorly reliable results.

Methods: The present retrospective study investigated the frequency and determinants of poorly reliable LSM (interquartile range [IQR]⁄median LSM [IQR⁄M] >30% with median liver stiffness ≥7.