Activated Hepatic Stellate Cells (Ito Cells) - Marker of Advanced Fibrosis in Chronic Viral Hepatitis C: A Pilot Study.

Background And Aims: The aim of this study is to determine whether activated hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) may represent a prognostic marker of progressive liver fibrosis in chronic viral hepatitis C (VHC) before antiviral therapy. The possible correlation between HSCs immunohistochemical features, histopathological aspects and clinical data before therapy were also studied.

Methods: This retrospective pilot study was conducted on 27 liver biopsies from VHC patients before antiviral therapy.

Hepatic stellate cells - from past till present: morphology, human markers, human cell lines, behavior in normal and liver pathology.

Hepatic stellate cell (HSC), initially analyzed by von Kupffer, in 1876, revealed to be an extraordinary mesenchymal cell, essential for both hepatocellular function and lesions, being the hallmark of hepatic fibrogenesis and carcinogenesis. Apart from their implications in hepatic injury, HSCs play a vital role in liver development and regeneration, xenobiotic response, intermediate metabolism, and regulation of immune response. In this review, we discuss the current state of knowledge regarding HSCs morphology, human HSCs markers and human HSC cell lines.

Real-Time Contrast-Enhanced-Guided Biopsy Compared with Conventional Ultrasound-Guided Biopsy in the Diagnosis of Hepatic Tumors on a Background of Advanced Chronic Liver Disease: A Prospective, Randomized, Clinical Trial.

We aimed to compare contrast-enhanced-guided liver biopsy (CEUSLB) and ultrasound-guided liver biopsy (USLB) in the diagnosis of focal liver lesions (FLLs) developed on a background of advanced chronic liver disease (ACLD). Between 2011 and 2019, patients diagnosed with liver tumors on a background of ACLD were evaluated for inclusion in the study. Patients were randomly assigned to the CEUSLB or USLB group.

Fatal Whipple's disease with severe mental manifestations on relapse - case report and brief advances update.

We present the case of a 51-year-old male admitted for asthenia, fatigability, nausea, inappetence, weight loss, watery diarrhea, lower limb paresthesia and diagnosed after further investigations with Whipple's disease (WD). The evolution was favorable under antibiotic therapy but after a period of time the patient was no longer compliant to the treatment and psychotic manifestations, general status alteration and finally the decease occurred. WD is a condition caused by Tropheryma whipplei (TW) bacterium in people with altered macrophage degrading capacity and it is lethal without early treatment.

Malignant endometriosis of the abdominal wall.

Unlabelled: Endometriosis is a disease represented by the presence of extra uterine endometrial tissue. It is a rare condition, and malignant transformation is seldom. We report a case with clear cell adenocarcinoma oncogenesis on abdominal wall scar that appeared after years of a caesarian section.

An atypical case of focal nodular hyperplasia. Problems of imagistic diagnosis.

Focal nodular hyperplasia (FNH) is a hepatic disease first described in 1958. The existence of an accessible and minimally invasive imagistic investigation to establish the diagnosis in a large number of cases would be desirable, especially because once diagnosed, the disease needs no treatment. We present the case of a young woman with long term use of oral contraceptives in which the diagnosis of FNH was established at a routine ultrasound.

Contrast enhanced ultrasound and computer tomography diagnosis of solid and mixed pancreatic tumors - analysis of confounders.

AIMS. The aim of this study was to evaluate the leading causes of discrepancies between imaging studies [contrast enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) and contrast enhanced computer tomography (CECT)] diagnosis and histology in patients presenting to a tertiary referral center with previously detected pancreatic masses by standard abdominal ultrasound. METHODS.

Added value of intravenous contrast-enhanced ultrasound for characterization of cystic pancreatic masses: a prospective study on 37 patients.

Unlabelled: The aim of this study was to evaluate the added value of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) in the pancreatic cystic mass (PCM) diagnosis by using a qualitative and quantitative analysis in order to make a relevant characterization.

Patients And Method: Between December 2008 and November 2011, 37 patients with PCM discovered at ultrasound examination were prospectively followed. A qualitative and quantitative CEUS analysis was performed in order to differentiate etiologies of the PCM.

[Prophylactic CPAP versus therapeutic CPAP in preterm newborns of 28-32 gestational weeks].

Unlabelled: Strategies in ventilation and in exposure to the oxygen that minimise lung injury improved the prognosis of the extremely low weight newborns. Avoiding intubation can prevent the reduction of mucociliary flow, injury of the mucosa and infection. Using early CPAP isn't unanimous; there are differences between studies in what are concerned: the beginning of the treatment, gestational age, methods.