Serial Procalcitonin Measurements for Determining Bacterial Infection and Mortality in Cirrhotic Patients with Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome.

Introduction: The utility of serial procalcitonin (PCT) measurements in cirrhotic patients with systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) is not well understood. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of serial PCT measurements for diagnosing bacterial infections and predicting 30-day mortality in this population.

Methods: We prospectively studied 120 cirrhotic patients with SIRS, 64.

Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging for the assessment of liver fibrosis in chronic viral hepatitis.

Background: Accurate noninvasive methods for the assessment of liver fibrosis are urgently needed. This prospective study evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DWI) for the staging of liver fibrosis and proposed a diagnostic algorithm using DWI to identify cirrhosis in patients with chronic viral hepatitis.

Methods: One hundred twenty-one treatment-naïve patients with chronic hepatitis B or C were evaluated with DWI followed by liver biopsy on the same day.

Prospective comparison of transient elastography, point shear wave elastography, APRI and FIB-4 for staging liver fibrosis in chronic viral hepatitis.

Ultrasound-based elastography and serum indexes have been individually validated as noninvasive methods for staging liver fibrosis in chronic viral hepatitis. We aimed to compare the accuracy of transient elastography (TE), shear wave elastography (SWE), aspartate aminotransferase to platelet index (APRI) and Fibrosis-4 index (FIB-4) with the METAVIR liver fibrosis staging in viral hepatitis patients. We enrolled 121 treatment-naïve chronic hepatitis B and C monoinfected patients.