Simeprevir and Sofosbuvir (SMV-SOF) for 12 Weeks for the Treatment of Chronic Hepatitis C Genotype 1 Infection: A Real World (Transplant) Hepatology Practice Experience.

Objectives: The combination of simeprevir (SMV) and sofosbuvir (SOF) was found to be well-tolerated with high sustained virologic response (SVR) rates in patients with genotype 1 chronic hepatitis C in clinical trials. Previous experience with hepatitis C virus (HCV) therapy has shown that patient tolerability and treatment efficacy described in controlled clinical trials did not necessarily mirror the "real world" experience. The goal of this study was to define SVR rates in a "real world" analysis and to explore predictors of treatment response with SMV and SOF.

Percutaneous Management of Benign Biliary Strictures with Large-Bore Catheters: Comparison between Patients with and without Orthotopic Liver Transplantation.

Purpose: To prospectively evaluate stricture resolution and patency rates of benign biliary strictures treated with percutaneous large-bore catheter "stenting" in patients with and without previous orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) and to compare treatment outcomes between these two groups.

Materials And Methods: Forty-six consecutive patients (25 with OLT) underwent percutaneous catheter placement in extrahepatic and single-site biliary stricture for 6-8 months, with progressive catheter upsizing to 18-20 F. Primary patency rate was defined as the proportion of patients without recurrent bile duct stricture during the follow-up period after successful stricture resolution.

Open-label prospective study of the safety and efficacy of glass-based yttrium 90 radioembolization for infiltrative hepatocellular carcinoma with portal vein thrombosis.

Background: The safety and efficacy of yttrium 90 ((90) Y) therapy for unresectable infiltrative hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with portal vein thrombosis (PVT) requires further evaluation.

Methods: A prospective, single-center safety and feasibility study recruited patients with unresectable (Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer stage C) infiltrative HCC with PVT. Safety was assessed according to Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events version 4.

Preservation of quality of life with doxorubicin drug-eluting bead transarterial chemoembolization for unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma: Longitudinal prospective study.

Background And Aim: The study aims to determine the effects of doxorubicin drug-eluting bead transarterial chemoembolization (DEB-TACE) therapies on health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Methods: This is a single-center, prospective study assessing HRQOL of consecutive patients with unresectable HCC who underwent DEB-TACE. Longitudinal assessment of HRQOL scores via Short-Form-36 (SF-36) was performed.

Liver disease related to the heart.

In this article, we review both acute and chronic liver diseases that occur as a result of heart or circulatory system failure. Ischemic hepatitis, congestive hepatopathy, cardiac cirrhosis, and Fontan liver disease are reviewed. We review clinical presentation, diagnostic data, prognosis, and available therapeutic strategies for these entities.

Age-related increases in basal ganglia glutamate are associated with TNF, reduced motivation and decreased psychomotor speed during IFN-alpha treatment: Preliminary findings.

Inflammation-induced alterations in central nervous system (CNS) metabolism have focused on glutamate. At excessive concentrations, glutamate is toxic to glia and neurons, and inflammatory cytokines have been shown to influence glutamate turnover by blocking glutamate reuptake and increasing glutamate release. Increased glutamate has also been found in depression, a disorder associated with increased inflammation.

Survival, efficacy, and safety of small versus large doxorubicin drug-eluting beads TACE chemoembolization in patients with unresectable HCC.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the overall survival, efficacy, and safety of small (100-300 µm) versus large (300-500 and 500-700 µm) doxorubicin drug-eluting beads transarterial chemoembolization (DEB TACE) in patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Materials And Methods: Ninety-four consecutive patients with unresectable HCC who underwent 269 DEB TACE procedures in 48 months were studied. DEB TACE procedures were performed using different DEB sizes: 100-300 µm (Group A, 59 patients) and with mixed 300-500 and 500-700 µm DEB (Group B, 35 patients).

Hepatic hydrothorax.

Hepatic hydrothorax (HH) is an uncommon complication in patients with end-stage liver disease. Only 5% to 10% of patients with end-stage liver disease develop HH, which may result in dyspnea, hypoxia, and infection, and portends a poor prognosis. The most likely explanation for development is passage of fluid from the peritoneal space to the pleural space due to small diaphragmatic defects.

IFN-alpha-induced cortical and subcortical glutamate changes assessed by magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

Cytokine effects on behavior may be related to alterations in glutamate metabolism. We therefore measured glutamate concentrations in brain regions shown to be affected by inflammatory stimuli including the cytokine interferon (IFN)-alpha. IFN-alpha is known to alter neural activity in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) and basal ganglia in association with symptoms of depression and increases in peripheral cytokines including the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and its soluble receptor.

Dopaminergic mechanisms of reduced basal ganglia responses to hedonic reward during interferon alfa administration.

Context: Inflammatory cytokines or cytokine inducers can alter basal ganglia activity, including reducing responsiveness to rewarding stimuli that may be mediated by cytokine effects on dopamine function.

Objectives: To determine whether long-term administration of the inflammatory cytokine interferon alfa reduces the basal ganglia response to reward and whether such changes are associated with decreased presynaptic striatal dopamine function and altered behavior.

Design: Cross-sectional and longitudinal studies.

Hepatocellular carcinoma lesion characterization: single-institution clinical performance review of multiphase gadolinium-enhanced MR imaging--comparison to prior same-center results after MR systems improvements.

Purpose: To measure diagnostic performance in the detection of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) by using the most recent technology and multiphase gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and to compare with earlier results at the same institution.

Materials And Methods: This retrospective study was institutional review board approved and HIPAA compliant. Informed consent was obtained.

The effectiveness of locoregional therapies versus supportive care in maintaining survival within the Milan criteria in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.

Purpose: To compare survival after treatment with either locoregional therapy (LRT) or supportive care in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) within the Milan criteria.

Materials And Methods: Patients with HCC who were classified within the Milan criteria (solitary HCC View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Chronic interferon-alpha administration disrupts sleep continuity and depth in patients with hepatitis C: association with fatigue, motor slowing, and increased evening cortisol.

Background: Consequences of chronic exposure to cytokines of the innate immune system on sleep in humans and the association of cytokine-induced sleep alterations with behavior, motor performance, and cortisol secretion are unknown.

Methods: Thirty-one patients with hepatitis C without pre-existing sleep disorders underwent nighttime polysomnography, daytime multiple sleep latency testing, behavioral assessments, neuropsychological testing, and serial blood sampling at baseline and after ∼12 weeks of either treatment with the innate immune cytokine interferon (IFN)-alpha (n = 19) or no treatment (n = 12). Fatigue and sleepiness were assessed using the Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory and Epworth Sleepiness Scale.

Transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt for symptomatic refractory hepatic hydrothorax in patients with cirrhosis.

Objectives: We sought to study effectiveness, survival, and complications after transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) in patients with cirrhosis and symptomatic refractory hepatic hydrothorax.

Methods: Consecutive patients who underwent TIPS between January 1992 and December 2008 for refractory hydrothorax were reviewed retrospectively. Clinical, laboratory, and procedural data were collected for all patients by retrospective chart review.

Gadolinium-enhanced MRI for tumor surveillance before liver transplantation: center-based experience.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate prospectively acquired institutional results to determine the accuracy of gadolinium-enhanced MRI in liver tumor surveillance before transplantation.

Subjects And Methods: One hundred fifteen patients underwent MRI of the abdomen within 90 days before liver transplantation. Images were acquired with gadolinium-enhanced 3D gradient-echo sequences in the arterial, venous, and delayed phases.

Effect of antiviral chemoprophylaxis on adverse clinical outcomes associated with cytomegalovirus after liver transplantation.

Objective: To assess t he association be tweencytomegalovirus (CMV) serology of donor and recipient and adverse outcomes afterliver transplantation in the era of effective antiviral chemoprophylaxis.

Patients And Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study of 193 consecutive patients undergoing their first liver transplantation between February 1998 and July 2000 with targeted and preemptive ganciclovir chemoprophylaxis. Patients were divided into 4 groups by CMV serology of donor and recipient: donor-/recipient-; donor-/recipient+; donor+/recipient+; and donor+/recipient-.

Risk stratification and targeted antifungal prophylaxis for prevention of aspergillosis and other invasive mold infections after liver transplantation.

Antifungal prophylaxis has been proposed for liver transplant recipients at increased risk for invasive mold infection. Risk factors for invasive mold infection after liver transplantation were selected to divide recipients into 3 groups: (1) high risk-transplantation on hemodialysis or delay of hospital discharge beyond day 7 after transplantation because of allograft or renal insufficiency; (2) intermediate risk-retransplantation or transplantation for fulminant hepatic failure; (3) low risk-absence of conditions in groups 1 and 2. During an intervention period (February 1999-April 2001), prophylactic administration of a lipid complex of amphotericin (Abelcet) at 5 mg/kg intravenously every 24 to 48 hours was recommended for high-risk recipients.

Gallbladder cancer and liver transplantation.

Gallbladder cancer is the fifth most common malignancy of the gastrointestinal tract. Gallbladder cancer is found incidentally at the time of cholecystectomy in 0.35% of patients.

Recent advances in liver transplantation.

Advances in liver transplantation continue to evolve but are hampered by continued increasing shortages in donor organs. This has resulted in a high incidence of patients dying while on the United Network for Organ Sharing waiting list. Indeed, we continue to assess ways of expanding the donor pool by using marginal donors, living donor liver transplantation, split liver transplantation, domino transplantation, and hepatic support systems to prolong survival long enough for the patient to undergo liver transplantation.

A randomized, prospective, double-blinded evaluation of selective bowel decontamination in liver transplantation.

Background: Bacterial infection is a frequent, morbid, and mortal complication of liver transplantation. Selective bowel decontamination (SBD) has been reported to reduce the rate of bacterial infection after liver transplantation in uncontrolled trials, but benefits of this intervention have been less clear in controlled studies.

Methods: Eighty candidates for liver transplantation were randomly assigned in a double-blinded fashion to an SBD regimen consisting of gentamicin 80 mg+polymyxin E 100 mg+nystatin 2 million units (37 patients) or to nystatin alone (43 patients).

Nutritional assessment of serum and hepatic vitamin A levels in patients with cirrhosis.

Background: Serum vitamin A (retinol) levels may not correlate with hepatic vitamin A stores in patients with cirrhosis; thus, supplementation of vitamin A based on serum levels may have a detrimental effect. Our aim was to determine whether serum levels correlate with hepatic stores in cirrhotic patients.

Methods: A prospective study of patients with cirrhosis undergoing orthotopic liver transplantation was completed.