AL Lambda Amyloidosis Activates Acute Liver Failure in the Absence of Plasma Cell Dyscrasia.

A patient with systemic amyloidosis developed portal hypertension, acute liver failure and multiorgan dysfunction. Extensive testing was unrevealing for paraproteinemia, plasma cell dyscrasia, infectious, or inflammatory conditions. He was transferred to our institution for orthotopic liver transplant evaluation but was ultimately declined given clinical instability and dysautonomia.

Being accompanied to liver discharge clinic: An easy measure to identify potential liver transplant candidates among those previously considered ineligible.

Background: Patients with cirrhosis deemed ineligible for liver transplantation are usually followed in general hepatology or gastroenterology clinics, with the hope of re-evaluation once they meet the appropriate criteria. Specific strategies to achieve liver transplant eligibility for these patients have not been studied.

Aim: To assess clinical and sociodemographic factors associated with future liver transplant eligibility among patients initially considered ineligible.

Advance Care Planning for Patients with Cirrhosis in a Structured Inpatient/Outpatient Hepatology Program.

Patients with end-stage liver disease (ESLD) have high mortality, but low utilization of palliative care. A transitional care liver clinic (TCLC), bridging inpatient hepatology care to outpatient clinics, should offer the ideal setting for advance care planning (ACP). To examine ACP and related outcomes for TCLC patients who died within one year of the initial TCLC visit.

Bariatric Surgery and Hepatocellular Carcinoma: a Propensity Score-Matched Analysis.

Background: The association between obesity and rising incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in the USA has been documented; however, the role of bariatric surgery remains less clear.

Aim: To evaluate the cross-sectional association of prior-bariatric surgery and HCC.

Methods: The United States Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) database was queried from 2004 to 2014 for discharges with a diagnosis of morbid obesity.

Keratin-17 Promotes p27KIP1 Nuclear Export and Degradation and Offers Potential Prognostic Utility.

Keratins that are overexpressed selectively in human carcinomas may offer diagnostic and prognostic utility. In this study, we show that high expression of keratin-17 (K17) predicts poor outcome in patients with cervical cancer, at early or late stages of disease, surpassing in accuracy either tumor staging or loss of p27(KIP1) as a negative prognostic marker in this setting. We investigated the mechanistic basis for the biologic impact of K17 through loss- and gain-of-function experiments in human cervix, breast, and pancreatic cancer cells.