Hepatitis C in Pregnancy in the Era of Direct-acting Antiviral Treatment: Potential Benefits of Universal Screening and Antepartum Therapy.

Hepatitis C in pregnancy is on the rise, and new direct-acting antiviral agents are available that cure the disease. Published recommendations need to be reviewed and clinically evaluated for the care of pregnant women who are at risk for or have chronic hepatitis C. Available evidence and some of the medical and ethical reasons to consider universal screening and antepartum therapy for hepatitis C during pregnancy are presented.

Purulent Proctitis Caused by in a Homosexual Male.

A 32-year-old homosexual male presented with suprapubic pain. Computed tomography showed rectal wall thickening. Flexible sigmoidoscopy showed small pockets of pus that were opened with mucosal biopsies, and additional pus was diffusely expressed from the rectal wall by applying blunt pressure with the biopsy forceps.

Graft Versus Host Disease After Liver Transplantation in Adults: A Case series, Review of Literature, and an Approach to Management.

Background: Graft-versus-host-disease (GVHD) after liver transplantation (LT) is a deadly complication with very limited data on risk factors, diagnosis and management. We report a case series and a comprehensive review of the literature.

Methods: Data were systematically extracted from reports of GVHD after LT, and from the United Network for Organ Sharing database.

Comparison of patient preferences for fecal immunochemical test or colonoscopy using the analytic hierarchy process.

Background: In average-risk individuals aged 50 to 75 years, there is no difference in life-years gained when comparing colonoscopy every 10 years vs. annual fecal immunochemical testing (FIT) for colorectal cancer screening. Little is known about the preferences of patients when they have experienced both tests.

Test characteristics of faecal immunochemical tests (FIT) compared with optical colonoscopy.

Background: Faecal occult blood tests are often the initial test in population-based screening. We aimed to: 1) compare the results of single sample faecal immunochemical tests (FITs) with colonoscopy, and 2) calculate the sensitivity for proximal vs. distal adenomatous polyps or cancer.

Alcoholic hepatitis: current management.

Alcoholic hepatitis is an acute manifestation of alcoholic liver disease with mortality as high as 40-50% in severe cases. Patients usually have a history of prolonged alcohol abuse with or without a known history of liver disease. Although there is significant range in severity at presentation, patients with severe alcoholic hepatitis typically present with anorexia, fatigue, fever, jaundice, and ascites.

Outcomes of treatment for hepatitis C virus infection by primary care providers.

Background: The Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes (ECHO) model was developed to improve access to care for underserved populations with complex health problems such as hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. With the use of video-conferencing technology, the ECHO program trains primary care providers to treat complex diseases.

Methods: We conducted a prospective cohort study comparing treatment for HCV infection at the University of New Mexico (UNM) HCV clinic with treatment by primary care clinicians at 21 ECHO sites in rural areas and prisons in New Mexico.

Response to therapy with pegylated interferon and ribavirin for chronic hepatitis C in hispanics compared to non-Hispanic whites.

Objectives: Ethnicity has been shown to play an important role in hepatitis C virus (HCV) treatment response. However, few studies have examined the treatment response of Hispanics to combination therapy with pegylated interferon and ribavirin. The aim of this study was to compare the treatment responses of Hispanics and non-Hispanic whites (NHW) treated with pegylated interferon and ribavirin for chronic HCV.

Chronic hepatitis C in pregnancy.

Objective: To estimate outcomes, to determine whether appropriate follow-up was performed for pregnant patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV), and to show that maternal and neonatal complications would be higher in the HCV-positive group.

Methods: We compared pregnant women from a drug dependence and treatment program who were HCV antibody-positive with those who were HCV antibody-negative using the University of New Mexico Perinatal Database. Maternal and neonatal outcomes were evaluated, including cholestasis of pregnancy, preterm birth, low birth weight, neonatal intensive care unit admissions, and neonatal methadone withdrawal.

Identification of proteins within the nuclear factor-kappa B transcriptional complex including estrogen receptor-alpha.

Objective: The objective of the study was to determine whether cross-talk occurs between estrogen receptors (ERs) and nuclear factor-kappa-B (NF-kappaB), to assess the functional consequences of such an ER/NF-kappaB interaction, and to identify other unknown regulatory proteins that may participate in the NF-kappaB transcriptional complex.

Study Design: Electromobility gel shifts, reporter gene assays, and mass spectrometry were used to identify proteins interacting with the NF-kappaB deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) response element.

Results: ER and the p65 subunit of NF-kappaB colocalized on DNA.

Changing patterns of gallbladder carcinoma in New Mexico.

Background: American Indians in the U.S. have a high incidence of gallbladder carcinoma (GBC).

Gastrointestinal, pancreatic, and hepatic cancer during pregnancy.

Pregnancy affects the clinical presentation, evaluation, treatment, and prognosis of patients with gastrointestinal cancer. Pregnant patients may present with advanced gastrointestinal cancer as a result of delayed diagnosis, in part because of difficulty differentiating signs and symptoms of cancer from signs and symptoms of normal pregnancy. The approach to cancer surgery and chemotherapy must be modified in pregnant patients to minimize fetal and maternal risks.

Sirolimus as primary immunosuppression in liver transplantation is not associated with hepatic artery or wound complications.

Sirolimus is a new immunosuppressive agent increasingly being used in liver transplant recipients. There is concern that sirolimus may be associated with wound complications and hepatic artery thrombosis (HAT). We have used sirolimus as primary immunosuppression in 170 liver transplant recipients and therefore reviewed our experience with wound complications and HAT in our cohort of patients.

Molecular characterization of volume-sensitive SK(Ca) channels in human liver cell lines.

In human liver, Ca(2+)-dependent changes in membrane K(+) permeability play a central role in coordinating functional interactions between membrane transport, metabolism, and cell volume. On the basis of the observation that K(+) conductance is partially sensitive to the bee venom toxin apamin, we aimed to assess whether small-conductance Ca(2+)-sensitive K(+) (SK(Ca)) channels are expressed endogenously and contribute to volume-sensitive K(+) efflux and cell volume regulation. We isolated a full-length 2,140-bp cDNA (hSK2) highly homologous to rat brain rSK2 cDNA, including the putative apamin-sensitive pore domain, from a human liver cDNA library.