Clinical features of Wilson disease: Analysis of 10 cases.

Aim:   The diagnosis of Wilson disease is based on the results of several clinical and biochemical tests. This study aimed to clarify the clinical features and spectrum of Wilson disease, including severe Wilson disease.

Methods:   Between 1985 and 2009, 10 patients with clinical, biochemical or histological evidence of Wilson disease were either diagnosed or had a previously established diagnosis confirmed at Fukuoka University Hospital.

Combination therapy of lamivudine and adefovir in Japanese patients with chronic hepatitis B.

Purpose: This study aimed to clarify the long-term efficacy of the lamivudine treatment in Japanese patients with chronic hepatitis B either with or without lamivudine resistance or with or without adefovir add-on treatment.

Methods: We followed 110 patients who received lamivudine for more than 12 months, including 67 hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-positive and 43 HBeAg-negative patients.

Results: The median follow-up after the onset of lamivudine was 48 (range = 12-86) months.

Alternative transporter pathways in patients with untreated early-stage and late-stage primary biliary cirrhosis.

Background/aims: The hepatic expression of bile acid transporters is altered in experimental cholestasis and it is unclear whether regulation exists in human cholestatic diseases. We investigated the expression of genes involved in bile acid detoxification, basolateral export and nuclear factor regulation in untreated primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC).

Methods: Liver tissues were obtained from patients with early-stage and late-stage PBC.

Budd-Chiari syndrome: two cases with different courses.

We report two cases of Budd-Chiari syndrome. Case 1: A 57-year-old man presented with leg edema and esophageal varices. Cavography showed obstruction of the inferior vena cava with antiphospholipid syndrome.

Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis associated with psoriasis vulgaris.

A 24-year-old man was admitted to our hospital because of liver dysfunction. He had been diagnosed as having psoriasis vulgaris at 18 years of age. Physical examination demonstrated obesity, general erythema, and hepatomegaly.