Diastolic dysfunction and cardiovascular risk in old subjects: possible association with NAFLD?

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is frequently associated with metabolic syndrome (MS) and may represent a cardiovascular (CV) risk factor. Functional cardiac abnormalities have been reported in patients with NAFLD. The aim of this paper is to investigate whether these findings are present also in elderly people.

Liver hemangioma and vascular liver diseases in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

Aim: To investigate whether systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is associated with benign focal liver lesions and vascular liver diseases, since these have been occasionally reported in SLE patients.

Methods: Thirty-five consecutive adult patients with SLE and 35 age- and sex-matched healthy controls were evaluated. Hepatic and portal vein patency and presence of focal liver lesions were studied by colour-Doppler ultrasound, computerized tomography and magnetic resonance were used to refine the diagnosis, clinical data of SLE patients were reviewed.

Prognostic value of a single HVPG measurement and Doppler-ultrasound evaluation in patients with cirrhosis and portal hypertension.

Background: In patients with cirrhosis the onset of clinically significant portal hypertension (CSPH; i.e., hepatic venous pressure gradient (HVPG) ≥ 10 mmHg) is associated with an increased risk of complications.

Heparin-like effect contributes to the coagulopathy in patients with acute liver failure undergoing liver transplantation.

Introduction: Liver transplantation (LT) in cirrhotics is characterized by severe coagulopathy, associated with a well documented heparin-like effect (HLE) seen by thromboelastography (TEG) after reperfusion. The amount of HLE present in patients with acute liver failure (ALF) and its role in their bleeding tendency before LT has not been investigated.

Aim: To investigate the presence and extent of HLE in patients with ALF undergoing LT and to compare the extent of HLE in this group with a group of cirrhotics undergoing LT.

Spleen enlargement on follow-up evaluation: a noninvasive predictor of complications of portal hypertension in cirrhosis.

Background & Aims: Splenomegaly is observed in most but not all patients with cirrhosis, and has been detected more often in patients showing complications of portal hypertension. We aimed to test the hypotheses that spleen enlarges over time in cirrhosis, and that a progressive enlargement may be associated with portal hypertension-related events.

Methods: A total of 127 cirrhotic patients (Child-Pugh, 6.

Combined HLA-DR and -DQ disparity is associated with a stable course of ulcerative colitis after liver transplantation for primary sclerosing cholangitis.

Combined disparity of human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-DR and -DQ between mother and fetus is associated with less severe ulcerative colitis (UC) during pregnancy. We evaluated whether donor-recipient HLA disparity after liver transplantation (LT) affects UC in patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC). Sixty-nine consecutive patients with PSC underwent LT; all underwent colonoscopy before LT; 48 had UC before and 3 had de novo UC after LT.

Peliosis hepatis as an early histological finding in idiopathic portal hypertension: A case report.

Peliosis hepatis is a rare condition characterized by dilatation of hepatic sinusoids and blood-filled spaces in the liver mainly observed in subjects exposed to toxic substances or estrogens, which is frequently asymptomatic. Non-cirrhotic idiopathic portal hypertension (NCIPH) is also a vascular disease of the liver rarely observed in European countries, which is usually diagnosed only when the hemorrhagic complications of portal hypertension occur. We report a case of NCIPH in a young Caucasian male who was diagnosed with liver peliosis, showing ultrasonographic and endoscopic signs of portal hypertension four years after.

Plasma total homocysteine and cardiovascular risk in patients submitted to liver transplantation.

Patients submitted to orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) show an increased rate of cardiovascular events. OLT subjects have high homocysteine (Hcy) levels, but no data are available on the association of Hcy with cardiovascular events. In a cross-sectional analysis, 230 subjects were studied at least 6 months after OLT (159 on cyclosporine, 71 on tacrolimus).

Primary prophylaxis with nadolol in cirrhotic patients: Doppler patterns of splanchnic hemodynamics in good and poor responders.

Background/aims: We aimed to characterize by echo-color-Doppler the splanchnic hemodynamics of patients good and poor responders to primary prophylaxis with nadolol.

Methods: Thirty cirrhotic patients (Child-score 7.0+/-1.