Acute idiosyncratic liver injury after Cladribine treatment for multiple sclerosis: first case report and review on associated hepatic disorders.

In recent years, several disease-modifying therapies have been developed for the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS). Cladribine transiently depletes B and T lymphocytes, with subsequent gradual cell recovery. No cases are reported in literature describing Cladribine drug-induced liver injury (DILI).

Prognostic factors of hepatic decompensation and hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with transfusion-acquired HCV infection.

Aims: Aim of this study was to assess if host (immunogenetic traits, age, sex), exogenous (alcohol) or viral factors (viral type, past HBV infection) might affect the progression of chronic hepatitis C to liver decompensation or the development of HCC in a cohort of patients exposed to a single blood transfusion prior to the introduction of anti-HCV screening.

Methods: Two hundred and forty-eight patients with a history of a single exposure to blood or blood products prior to 1990 were retrospectively considered. Patients were devoid of other risk factors of liver disease or immunosuppression and naïve to antiviral therapies.

Transarterial injection of (131)I-lipiodol, compared with chemoembolization, in the treatment of unresectable hepatocellular cancer.

Unlabelled: Transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) improves survival in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in whom curative therapies are not suitable. The aim of this study was to assess survival differences in patients with hepatic cirrhosis and unresectable HCC treated by (131)I-lipiodol versus TACE or transarterial embolization (TAE).

Methods: A retrospective study was performed on a cohort of 124 patients undergoing treatment for unresectable HCC between 1997 and 2006.

Efficacy of loco-regional ablation therapy of HCC in a population of liver transplanted patients.

Background And Objective: Loco-ablation therapy (LAT) has become standard treatment for patients with HCC who are candidates for liver transplantation (LT). The aim of this study was: to evaluate if LAT was able to induce complete necrosis of tumour mass; to determine the tumour recurrence rate after LT and factors associated with recurrence.

Patients: The percentage and the distribution of necrosis in 116 HCC nodules of 61 patients with (26 patients) and without (35 patients) previous types of LAT were examined in explanted livers.

Transarterial therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma: which technique is more effective? A systematic review of cohort and randomized studies.

Background: Chemoembolization (TACE) improves survival in cirrhotic patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The optimal schedule, or whether embolization (TAE) alone gives the same survival advantage, is not known.

Purpose: To evaluate whether specific patient characteristics and/or radiological transarterial techniques result in better outcomes.

Treatment outcomes for hepatocellular carcinoma using chemoembolization in combination with other therapies.

Background: Although transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) improves survival in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), it is not known if TACE combined with other treatments is beneficial.

Aim: To evaluate the evidence for improved outcomes in HCC with a multimodal treatment approach involving TACE.

Method: PubMed search for all cohort and randomized trials (n=84) evaluating TACE combined with other therapies; meta-analysis performed where appropriate.

Severe venoocclusive disease after liver transplantation treated with transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt.

Venoocclusive disease (VOD) is due to hepatic sinusoidal lining injury leading to portal hypertension; its incidence after liver transplantation is about 2%. When severe, it does not respond to medical therapy and has a high mortality; retransplantation is the only therapeutic option. However, there are no detailed data regarding the use of transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt for VOD after liver transplantation.

Liver transplantation and recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma: predictive value of nodule size in a retrospective and explant study.

Background: Recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after liver transplantation (LT) remains a major cause of post-LT death.

Methods: To assess which preoperative and postoperative variables were related to recurrence of HCC after LT in patients with cirrhosis and HCC, we evaluated 96 patients with cirrhosis (74 with known HCC and 22 with incidental HCC) who survived more than 1 month after LT.

Results: The median waiting list time was 36 days (range 1-370 days), and the median interval from detection to transplant was 180 days (range 14-1460 days).

Liver transplantation and hepatitis C virus: systematic review of antiviral therapy.

Antiviral therapy for recurrent hepatitis C after liver transplantation is increasingly used. This systematic review presents both viral and histological response in three areas: pretransplant (5 studies/180 patients), preemptive therapy soon after transplant (10 studies/417 patients), and therapy for established disease (75 studies/2027 patients). There were only 16 randomized studies (543 patients).