Cure can be achieved by conversion to microwave ablation following atezolizumab-bevacizumab therapy in unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma.

Backgrounds/aims: Atezolizumab/bevacizumab is the recommended first-line systemic therapy for unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (uHCC) and may facilitate curative conversion through resection and locoregional therapies. However, there have been very few reports on curative conversion using microwave ablation (MWA). This study aimed to determine the curative conversion rate with MWA using atezolizumab-bevacizumab as the first-line treatment in patients with uHCC, and to compare the characteristics and survival of patients with and without curative conversion.

Unchanging prevalence of late presentation to care among patients with chronic hepatitis B.

Background And Study Aims: A recent consensus defines a delay in hepatitis B (HBV) diagnosis as presentation with late (hepatocellular carcinoma or decompensated cirrhosis) or advanced (fibrosis ≥ 3) stage disease. We aimed to determine the prevalence of late and advanced stage presentation among chronic HBV (CHB) patients and to determine factors associated with late and advanced stage presentation.

Methods: Consecutive CHB patients seen from 1 January 2007 to 31 December 2018 were included and analyzed on January 2019.

Comparison of clinical and metabolic profiles of lean versus non-lean nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.

Background: Data on nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in the Philippines are scarce. We aimed to compare the clinical and biochemical profiles of lean (BMI<23) vs. non-lean (BMI≥23) NAFLD patients.

Hepatitis B infection among adults in the philippines: A national seroprevalence study.

Aim: To determine the prevalence of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) seropositivity among adult Filipinos.

Methods: Testing for HBsAg was performed on serum samples from persons aged ≥ 20 years old who participated in the National Nutrition and Health Survey (NNHeS) conducted in 2003. Information on age, sex, marital status, educational attainment, employment status, and income were collected.

Temperature-dependent electrode repositioning for multiple overlapping radiofrequency ablation in ex vivo porcine livers.

Purpose: Overlapping ablations can be used to increase radiofrequency ablation volume. Our goal was to determine, in a porcine model, the relationship of ablation size and temperature for single ablation, and to compare the extent of necrosis resulting from temperature-dependent electrode positioning versus fixed-distance dual ablation.

Materials And Methods: The experiments were performed in two parts (single and dual ablations).

Combined percutaneous radiofrequency ablation and ethanol injection for hepatocellular carcinoma in high-risk locations.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether combining percutaneous ethanol injection (PEI) with radiofrequency ablation in the management of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in high-risk locations improves treatment outcomes.

Subjects And Methods: We compared the outcome of management of high-risk tumors with PEI and radiofrequency ablation (n = 50) or radiofrequency ablation alone (n = 114) with the outcome of radiofrequency ablation of non-high-risk tumors (n = 44). We also compared the survival rates of patients with and those without high-risk HCC.

Tenofovir monotherapy is effective in hepatitis B patients with antiviral treatment failure to adefovir in the absence of adefovir-resistant mutations.

Background/aims: We sought to identify mutations associated with treatment failure to adefovir (ADV) and to determine virologic response to tenofovir (TDF) alone and in combination with emtricitabine (FTC) in these patients.

Methods: Serum samples prior to and after the change in treatment to TDF/TDF+FTC from 13 patients were analyzed by direct sequencing and clonal analysis.

Results: ADV-resistant mutations, rtA181V and rtN236T, were detected on direct sequencing in 3 of 8 patients who had virologic breakthrough.

Treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma using internally cooled electrodes. A prospective comparison of modified automated vs. manual pulsed radiofrequency algorithms.

Objectives: To compare the effectiveness of modified automated and manual pulsed radiofrequency (RF) algorithms using internally cooled electrodes for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Methods: Seventy-seven treatment-naive cirrhotic patients with 102 HCC (< or =4 cm) underwent 109 sessions of ultrasound-guided percutaneous RF ablation using a 17-gauge, 20-cm-long, single internally cooled electrode. Patients were assigned alternatively: 40 patients to the modified automated algorithm group and 37 patients to the manual algorithm group.

Erosive esophagitis in the Philippines: a comparison between two time periods.

Background: In Asia, the incidence of gastroesophageal reflux disease diagnosed through endoscopy has increased from 3-9% to 14-16% in the last decade. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of erosive esophagitis (EE) over a span of 10 years in a tertiary care facility in the Philippines.

Methods: All patients diagnosed with EE from 1994 to 1997 (period A) and from 2000 to 2003 (period B) were included in the study.

Low risk of hepatitis B virus recurrence after withdrawal of long-term hepatitis B immunoglobulin in patients receiving maintenance nucleos(t)ide analogue therapy.

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) recurrence rates of 0-16% had been reported in patients maintained on nucleoside analogues (NA) after hepatitis B immunoglobulin (HBIG) discontinuation after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). However, follow-up in most studies was short. We aimed to determine the long-term risk of HBV recurrence using this strategy.

Comparison of clinical outcomes in chronic hepatitis B liver transplant candidates with and without hepatocellular carcinoma.

Patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) receive a higher MELD score and may undergo liver transplantation (OLT) earlier compared to patients with cirrhosis, potentially decreasing waiting list mortality. However, post-OLT survival may be reduced by recurrence of HCC. We compared clinical outcomes between patients with HBV-cirrhosis and no HCC and patients with HBV-HCC.

Evolution of multi-drug resistant hepatitis B virus during sequential therapy.

Multi-drug resistant hepatitis B virus (HBV) has been reported in hepatitis B patients who received sequential antiviral therapy. In vitro studies showed that HBV constructs with mutations resistant to lamivudine and adefovir have marked reduction in sensitivity to combination of lamivudine and adefovir, whereas constructs with mutations resistant to either drug remain sensitive to the other drug. We conducted this study to determine whether mutations conferring resistance to multiple antiviral agents co-locate on the same HBV genome in vivo and to describe the evolution of these mutations.

Update on viral hepatitis: 2005.

Purpose Of Review: This review aims to provide a concise summary of relevant developments in the treatment and prevention of viral hepatitis based on publications between December 2004 and November 2005.

Recent Findings: Long-term therapy with lamivudine was shown to reduce the incidence of adverse clinical outcomes in patients with chronic hepatitis B. This benefit was, however, diminished in patients with viral breakthrough.

Changing trends in peptic ulcer prevalence in a tertiary care setting in the Philippines: a seven-year study.

Background And Aims: The declining global prevalence of peptic ulcer disease (PUD) might be because of the decreasing prevalence of Helicobacter pylori (Hp) infection. The aims of the present study were to determine the prevalence of PUD during a 7-year period and to investigate its relationship with the prevalence of Hp infection during the same period.

Methods: All upper gastrointestinal endoscopies carried out at Santo Tomas Hospital in Manila from January 1996 to December 2002 were evaluated.