Changes in the Liver Transplant Waiting List after Expanding to the 'Up-to-Seven' Criteria for Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

We aimed to assess changes in the composition of the waiting list for liver transplantation (LT) after expanding from Milan to "up-to-seven" criteria in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). A consecutive cohort of 255 LT candidates was stratified in a pre-expansion era (2016-2018; = 149) and a post-expansion era (2019-2021; = 106). The most frequent indication for LT was HCC in both groups (47.

Enumeration and Characterization of Circulating Tumor Cells in Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma Undergoing Transarterial Chemoembolization.

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs), and particularly circulating cancer stem cells (cCSC), are prognostic biomarkers for different malignancies and may be detected using liquid biopsies. The ex vivo culture of cCSCs would provide valuable information regarding biological aggressiveness and would allow monitoring the adaptive changes acquired by the tumor in real time. In this prospective pilot study, we analyzed the presence of EpCAM CTCs using the IsoFlux system in the peripheral blood of 37 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma undergoing transarterial chemoembolization (TACE).

Endoscopic findings unrelated to portal hypertension in patients with liver cirrhosis undergoing a varicose vein screening programme.

Aim: To determine the prevalence of endoscopic lesions unrelated with portal hypertension in patients with cirrhosis.

Patients And Methods: Cross-sectional study including a consecutive cohort of patients with liver cirrhosis enrolled in a screening program of oesophageal varices who underwent an upper gastrointestinal endoscopy from November, 2013, to November, 2018. Clinical predictors of endoscopic lesions unrelated to portal hypertension were analyzed by univariate and multivariate logistic regression.

Inflammatory pseudotumor-like follicular dendritic cell sarcoma of the liver.

A 53-year-old female with a history of HLA-B27 positive polyarthritis underwent a splenectomy due to an incidental splenic lesion, which was confirmed as an inflammatory pseudotumor (IPT). Afterwards, two liver lesions were found and histopathological examination revealed inflammatory pseudotumor-like follicular dendritic cell sarcoma (IPT-like FDCS). The patient received NSAIDs, corticosteroids, antibiotics and azathioprine, with no response.

Impact of MELD Allocation System on Waiting List and Early Post-Liver Transplant Mortality.

Background And Aims: MELD allocation system has changed the clinical consequences on waiting list (WL) for LT, but its impact on mortality has been seldom studied. We aimed to assess the ability of MELD and other prognostic scores to predict mortality after LT.

Methods: 301 consecutive patients enlisted for LT were included, and prioritized within WL by using the MELD-score according to: hepatic insufficiency (HI), refractory ascites (RA) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Interferon for interferon nonresponding and relapsing patients with chronic hepatitis C.

Background: The widely-accepted treatment outcome for chronic hepatitis C is the sustained viral response (that is, no measurable viral RNA in blood six months after treatment). However, this surrogate outcome (as well as the previously employed biochemical and histologic ones) has never been validated. This situation exists because there are very few randomized clinical trials that have used clinical events (mortality or manifestations of decompensated cirrhosis) as outcomes, because those clinical events only occur after many years of infection.