This position statement explores the intricate relationship between alcohol intake and metabolic dysfunction in the context of the 2023 nomenclature for steatotic liver disease (SLD). Recent and lifetime alcohol use should be accurately assessed in all patients with SLD to facilitate classification of alcohol use in grams of alcohol per week. Alcohol biomarkers (i.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe GeneXpert HBV Viral Load test is a simplified tool to scale up screening and HBV monitoring in resource-limited settings, where HBV is endemic and where molecular techniques to quantify HBV DNA are expensive and scarce. However, the accuracy of field diagnostics compared to gold standard assays in HBV-endemic African countries has not been well understood. We aim to validate the diagnostic performance of the GeneXpert HBV Viral Load test in freshly collected and stored plasma and dried blood spot (DBS) samples to assess turn-around-time (TAT) for sample processing and treatment initiation, to map GeneXpert machines and to determine limitations to its use in The Gambia.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Expanding antiviral therapy to people with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection who are ineligible to receive treatment under current international criteria has been increasingly debated. Evidence to support this approach is scarce, especially in Africa. We aimed to address this knowledge gap by analysing the clinical outcomes of people with chronic hepatitis B in The Gambia who were untreated and ineligible for antiviral therapy at diagnosis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground & Aims: Current screening pathways, developed from tertiary care cohorts, underestimate the presence of Metabolic-dysfunction associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in the community. We developed, validated, and assessed cost-effectiveness of a new score for screening the presence of fibrosis due to MASLD in primary care.
Methods: Consecutive T2DM patients underwent screening for liver diseases with transient elastography (TE).