A diagnostic model for cirrhosis in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: an artificial neural network approach.

Background: Timely diagnosis of liver cirrhosis is vital for preventing further liver damage and giving the patient the chance of transplantation. Although biopsy of the liver is the gold standard for cirrhosis assessment, it has some risks and limitations and this has led to the development of new noninvasive methods to determine the stage and prognosis of the patients. We aimed to design an artificial neural network (ANN) model to diagnose cirrhosis patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) using routine laboratory data.

Effects of Oral Levamisole as an Adjuvant to Hepatitis B Vaccine in HIV/ AIDS Patients: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infected patients are also frequently exposed to the hepatitis B virus (HBV), due to the common routes of transmission, therefore, prevention of hepatitis B results in decreased complications of the disease.

Objectives: Since the immune response of HIV patients to hepatitis B vaccination is less robust than that found in healthy individuals, this study aimed to evaluate the effect of a levamisole adjuvant on increasing the immune response.

Patients And Methods: In this study, 89 HIV infected patients, without a history of HBV infection or vaccination, were randomly allocated into experimental (44 patients) and control (45 patients) groups.

The frequency of hepatitis D virus in patients with hepatitis B in Iran: an increasing rate?

This study sought to determine the seroprevalence of the hepatitis D virus (HDV), the risk factors and its association with the severity of liver disease. Continuous patients at Tabriz and Tehran Hepatitis Clinics were enrolled during 2007-2008 in a cross-sectional study. Demographic data and possible risk factors for infection were recorded for all hepatitis B surface antigen positive patients.