Lactulose use among patients with alcohol-related liver cirrhosis as a surrogate marker of hepatic encephalopathy: prevalence and association with mortality - a Danish nationwide cohort study.

Background & Aims: Hepatic encephalopathy (HE), one of the most serious prognostic factors for mortality in alcohol-related cirrhosis (ALD cirrhosis), is not recorded in Danish healthcare registries. However, treatment of HE with lactulose, the universal first-line treatment, can be identified through data on filled prescriptions. This study aimed to investigate if lactulose can be used as a surrogate marker of HE.

Coping with salinity change: How does the cyclopoid copepod Apocyclops royi (Lindberg 1940) do it?

The cyclopoid copepod species Apocyclops royi has attracted significant attention due to its importance in marine food webs and its role as a vital food source for many marine organisms, particularly marine fish larvae. This study aims to understand the activity patterns, osmoregulation mechanisms, and physiological adaptations of A. royi in response to acute decreasing salinities.

Delta in Denmark: prevalence of hepatitis delta virus infection.

Hepatitis delta virus (HDV) infection has an aggressive disease course and is the most difficult to treat of the human hepatitis viruses. In Denmark, as in many countries, the national prevalence of HDV has not been established. Based on diagnoses and laboratory test results in national healthcare registries, we estimated that the prevalence of current HDV infection amongst patients with chronic hepatitis B was 3.

Correction of systematic low-frequency time delay errors in THz systems by absorption line shape optimization.

Time-domain terahertz systems can face challenges due to systematic delay errors introduced by the employed delay mechanism, potentially leading to poor data quality. This article introduces a procedure to address these challenges by correcting low-frequency systematic errors that distort the acquired spectra and incorrectly diminish narrow absorption features. Our procedure solves an optimization problem aiming to find the corrected time-signal pairs that maximize the depth of narrow absorption features, and we highlight how the flexibility of the procedure, in principle, allows for correcting error profiles of arbitrary shape.

Influence of Comorbidities on Health-Related Quality of Life in Alcohol-Related Liver Disease: A Population-Based Survey.

Background And Aims: Extrahepatic comorbidities are common in alcohol-related liver disease (ALD). We examined associations between burden of comorbidities, alcohol, and smoking with low health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among patients with ALD.

Methods: Patients with ALD and matched comparators were identified among respondents of the Danish National Health Survey waves in 2010-2017.

Adverse health outcomes in offspring of parents with alcohol-related liver disease: Nationwide Danish cohort study.

Background: Parental drinking can cause harm to the offspring. A parent's diagnosis of alcohol-related liver disease (ALD) might be an opportunity to reach offspring with preventive interventions. We investigated offspring risk of adverse health outcomes throughout life, their association with their parent's educational level and diagnosis of ALD.

Primary Liver Cancer Risk and Mortality in Patients With Alcohol-Related Cirrhosis in England and Denmark: Observational Cohort Studies.

Introduction: Patients with alcohol-related cirrhosis (ALD cirrhosis) have an increased risk of primary liver cancer (hepatocellular carcinoma [HCC] or intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma [iCCA]). England recommends surveillance for HCC in these patients, while Denmark does not.

Methods: We performed an observational cohort study using the English Clinical Practice Research Datalink and the nationwide Danish healthcare registries to identify 17,110 English (2000-2016) and 22,122 Danish (1994-2022) patients with diagnosis codes of ALD cirrhosis.

The CIRrhotic Ascites Severity (CIRAS) model predicts hepatic hydrothorax at all stages of ascites.

Background: Hepatic hydrothorax (HH) is a rare but severe manifestation of cirrhotic ascites. Whether HH development relates to ascites severity is uncertain and simple clinical models to predict HH from all stages of ascites are missing. The recently published CIRrhotic Ascites Severity (CIRAS) model using only ascites-related variables may serve this purpose.

Risk factors for acute myocardial infarction in patients with alcohol-related cirrhosis - a Danish nested case-control study.

Background & Aims: Alcohol-related cirrhosis (ALD cirrhosis) has a weaker effect on acute myocardial infarction (MI) than on other arterial or venous thromboses, and the reasons for this pattern are unclear. This study aimed to identify risk factors of MI amongst patients with ALD cirrhosis.

Methods: This nationwide register-based nested case-control study was conducted within a cohort of all Danish patients diagnosed with ALD cirrhosis from 2000-2019.

Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease has become the most common cause of hepatocellular carcinoma in Sweden: A nationwide cohort study.

Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) is the most prevalent chronic liver disease globally, and can lead to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), a leading cause of cancer-related death. We aimed to determine the extent to which MASLD is an increasing cause of HCC in Sweden and to determine clinical characteristics associated with underlying MASLD. Using the Swedish quality registry for liver cancer (SweLiv), we identified all adults with a diagnosis of HCC in Sweden between 2012 and 2018.

Randomized clinical trial on safety of the natriuretic peptide ularitide as treatment of refractory cirrhotic ascites.

Background: Sodium and water retention is a mainstay of the pathophysiology leading to ascites formation in patients with advanced cirrhosis. Refractory ascites denotes the most severe ascites status with limited treatment options and a poor prognosis. We investigated the efficacy and safety of the natriuretic peptide ularitide in patients with refractory cirrhotic ascites.

Bisphosphonate effectiveness in patients with cirrhosis: An emulated clinical trial.

Background: Falls and fractures are common and morbid for patients with cirrhosis. Bisphosphonates are recommended for the prevention of fractures for people with osteoporosis cirrhosis; however, data supporting effectiveness in cirrhosis are lacking.

Aim: We sought to emulate a clinical trial of bisphosphonates in cirrhosis.

Landmark analysis of the risk of recurrence after resection or ablation for HCC: A nationwide study.

Background: The risk of HCC recurrence at particular landmarks since the initial treatment is unknown. With this registry-based study, we aimed to provide a nuanced description of the prognosis following resection or ablation for HCC, including landmark analyses.

Methods: Using the Danish nationwide health care registries, we identified all patients who received resection or ablation in 2000-2018 as the first HCC treatment.

Registration of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: Validity in the Danish National Patient Registry.

Purpose: Health care databases are a valuable source for epidemiological research on amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) if diagnosis codes are valid. We evaluated the validity of the diagnostic codes for ALS in the Danish National Patient Registry (DNPR).

Patients And Methods: We obtained data from the DNPR for all adult (>17 years) patients registered with ALS in Denmark between 1987 and 2022 (median population of 4.

The LIVER CARE trial - screening for liver disease in individuals attending treatment for alcohol use disorder: a randomized controlled feasibility trial.

Background: Alcohol-related liver disease is a preventable disease with high mortality. If individuals with alcohol-related liver disease were to be diagnosed earlier by screening and they reduced their alcohol consumption, lives lost to alcohol-related liver disease might be saved. A liver stiffness measurement (FibroScan©) is a key tool to screen for alcohol-related liver disease in asymptomatic individuals.

Statin initiation after myocardial infarction in patients with alcohol-related liver disease: A nationwide population-based study.

Background And Aims: Secondary prevention with statins improves clinical outcomes after myocardial infarction (MI). We aimed to compare odds of statin initiation after MI in patients with co-existing alcohol-related liver disease (ALD) to the general population, and the association between statin initiation and mortality in the patients with ALD.

Methods: All statin-naïve patients with ALD and a first-time MI between 2006 and 2020 were identified from Swedish healthcare registers and matched for age, sex, and year of MI with up to ten ALD-free general population controls with a first-time MI.

Fourier-transform THz spectroscopy based on electric-field interferometry using THz-PMT.

We demonstrate a high dynamic range (DR) Fourier-transform-based terahertz (THz) spectrometer by combining a THz photomultiplier tube (PMT) with a metasurface and a conventional Michelson interferometer. Because the THz-PMT response depends on the incident electric-field strength following the Fowler-Nordheim equation, we can directly obtain an electric field interferogram without any synchronized optical probe pulse in contrast to conventional THz-time-domain-spectroscopy (THz-TDS). The DR of the corresponding power spectrum using the proposed method was 4.

Developing and validating clinical prediction models in hepatology - An overview for clinicians.

Prediction models are everywhere in clinical medicine. We use them to assign a diagnosis or a prognosis, and there have been continuous efforts to develop better prediction models. It is important to understand the fundamentals of prediction modelling, thus, we herein describe nine steps to develop and validate a clinical prediction model with the intention of implementing it in clinical practice: Determine if there is a need for a new prediction model; define the purpose and intended use of the model; assess the quality and quantity of the data you wish to develop the model on; develop the model using sound statistical methods; generate risk predictions on the probability scale (0-100%); evaluate the performance of the model in terms of discrimination, calibration, and clinical utility; validate the model using bootstrapping to correct for the apparent optimism in performance; validate the model on external datasets to assess the generalisability and transportability of the model; and finally publish the model so that it can be implemented or validated by others.

Terahertz time-domain imaging for the examination of gilded wooden artifacts.

Terahertz imaging is unlocking unique capabilities for the analysis of cultural heritage artifacts. This paper uses terahertz time-domain imaging for the study of a gilded wooden artifact, providing a means to perform stratigraphic analysis, yielding information about the composition of the artifact, presence of certain materials identifiable through their THz spectral fingerprint, as well as alterations that have been performed over time. Due to the limited information that is available for many historic artifacts, the data that can be obtained through the presented technique can guide proper stewardship of the artifact, informing its long-term preservation.

Mapping nanoscale carrier confinement in polycrystalline graphene by terahertz spectroscopy.

Terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) can be used to map spatial variations in electrical properties such as sheet conductivity, carrier density, and carrier mobility in graphene. Here, we consider wafer-scale graphene grown on germanium by chemical vapor deposition with non-uniformities and small domains due to reconstructions of the substrate during growth. The THz conductivity spectrum matches the predictions of the phenomenological Drude-Smith model for conductors with non-isotropic scattering caused by backscattering from boundaries and line defects.

The future of International Classification of Diseases coding in steatotic liver disease: An expert panel Delphi consensus statement.

Background: Following the adoption of new nomenclature for steatotic liver disease, we aimed to build consensus on the use of International Classification of Diseases codes and recommendations for future research and advocacy.

Methods: Through a two-stage Delphi process, a core group (n = 20) reviewed draft statements and recommendations (n = 6), indicating levels of agreement. Following revisions, this process was repeated with a large expert panel (n = 243) from 73 countries.

Smoking is a Risk Factor for Autoimmune Hepatitis: An English Registry-Based Case-Control Study.

Purpose: Smoking is a risk factor for some autoimmune diseases, but its association with autoimmune hepatitis remains unknown. We conducted a population-based matched case-control study to examine the association between tobacco smoking and the risk of autoimmune hepatitis in England.

Patients And Methods: From the Clinical Practice Research Datalink and linked Hospital Episode Statistics, 2005-2017, we included 987 cases diagnosed with autoimmune hepatitis after age 18 years and up to 10 frequency-matched population controls per case.

Population-Based Study of Alcohol-Related Liver Disease in England in 2001-2018: Influence of Socioeconomic Position.

Introduction: England has seen an increase in deaths due to alcohol-related liver disease (ALD) since 2001. We studied the influence of socioeconomic position on the incidence of ALD and the mortality after ALD diagnosis in England in 2001-2018.

Methods: This was an observational cohort study based on health records contained within the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink covering primary care, secondary care, cause of death registration, and deprivation of neighborhood areas in 18.

Societal costs and survival of patients with biopsy-verified non-alcoholic steatohepatitis: Danish nationwide register-based study.

Introduction And Objectives: Studies on the societal burden of patients with biopsy-confirmed non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) are sparse. This study examined this question, comparing NAFLD with matched reference groups.

Materials And Methods: Nationwide Danish healthcare registers were used to include all patients (≥18 years) diagnosed with biopsy-verified NAFLD (1997-2021).