Off-treatment virologic relapse and outcomes of re-treatment in chronic hepatitis B patients who achieved complete viral suppression with oral nucleos(t)ide analogs.

Background: The durability of off-treatment virologic responses has not been fully elucidated in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients who have previously achieved complete virologic suppression with nucleos(t)ide analog (NA) therapy. This study aimed to assess off-treatment virologic relapse rates and to characterize the outcomes of subsequent re-treatment in CHB patients who have discontinued oral NA following complete virologic suppression.

Methods: Ninety-five CHB patients who showed complete virologic suppression were withdrawn from NAs: entecavir, lamivudine, and clevudine in 67, 15, and 13 patients, respectively.

Clinical features and outcome of cryptogenic hepatocellular carcinoma compared to those of viral and alcoholic hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background: Cryptogenic hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is thought to arise due to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). This study investigated the prevalence, clinical features, and outcomes of cryptogenic HCC and compared them with those of HCC related to hepatitis B virus infection (HBV-HCC), hepatitis C virus infection (HCV-HCC), and alcohol (ALC-HCC) in Korea.

Methods: The clinical features, treatment modalities, and survival data for 480 patients with HCC consecutively enrolled from January 2003 to June 2012 were analyzed.

Clinical and epidemiological features of hepatitis C virus infection in South Korea: a prospective, multicenter cohort study.

The epidemiological and clinical features of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in South Korea were examined in a prospective, multicenter cohort study that included 1,173 adult patients with positive results for anti-HCV antibody who completed a questionnaire survey on the risk factors for HCV infection from January 2007 to December 2011 at five university hospitals. The HCV cohort had a mean age of 55.4 years with 48.

Clinical and epidemiological characteristics of Korean patients with hepatitis C virus genotype 6.

Background/aims: The distribution of hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotypes varies geographically. In Korea, genotypes 1 and 2 comprise more than 90% of HCV infections, while genotype 6 is very rare. This study compared the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of patients with genotype 6 HCV infection with those infected with HCV genotypes 1 and 2.

Phylogenetic analysis of the 56-kDa type-specific protein genes of Orientia tsutsugamushi in Central Korea.

There are several antigenic variants of Orientia tsutsugamushi. The 56-kDa type-specific antigen (TSA) is responsible for the antigenic variation. Nucleotide sequences of the 56-kDa TSA obtained from 44 eschar samples of Korean scrub typhus patients and from 40 representative strains retrieved from the GenBank database were analyzed phylogenetically.

Type and cause of liver disease in Korea: single-center experience, 2005-2010.

Background/aims: The aim of this study was to describe the types and causes of liver disease in patients from a single community hospital in Korea between April 2005 and May 2010.

Methods: A cohort of patients who visited the liver clinic of the hospital during the aforementioned time period were consecutively enrolled (n=6,307). Consistent diagnostic criteria for each liver disease were set by a single, experienced hepatologist, and the diagnosis of all of the enrolled patients was confirmed by retrospective review of their medical records.

Serum thioredoxin 1 level has close relation with myocardial damage amount in acute myocardial infarction patients.

Thioredoxin-1 (Trx-1) is one of important anti-oxidative molecules to overcome the oxidative stress. The aim of the present study is to investigate the clinical relationship between serum concentration of Trx-1 on the pre-percutaneous coronary intervention (prePCI) and myocardial damage amount in the patients with acute myocardial infarction with the culprit lesion in only the left anterior descending artery on coronary angiography (n = 100). Initial value of creatine kinase (CK) was 368.

Extended Spectrum-β-Lactamase or Carbapenemase Producing Bacteria Isolated from Patients with Acute Cholangitis.

Background/aims: This study assessed the antibiotic resistance organisms isolated from the blood and bile of acute cholangitis and evaluated risk factors associated with them and their impact on clinical outcomes.

Methods: The identities and antibiotic resistance profiles of bacteria isolated from 433 cases of acute cholangitis from 346 patients were analyzed. Risk factors and the outcomes of patients infected with them were assessed.