Post-partum reactivation of chronic hepatitis B virus infection among hepatitis B e-antigen-negative women.

Aim: To investigate the frequency and timing of post-partum chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) reactivation and identify its pre-partum predictors.

Methods: Forty-one hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-negative chronic HBV infected pregnant women were prospectively evaluated between the 28th and the 32nd week of gestation. Subjects were re-evaluated at 3-mo intervals during the first post-partum year and every 6 mo during the following years.

Does interferon therapy prevent hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with chronic viral hepatitis?

Chronic hepatitis C and B are well-recognized and potentially preventable risk factors for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) development. Clinical and epidemiological studies suggest that therapy with interferon-α may reduce the overall risk of HCC development in patients with chronic hepatitis C, who achieve sustained virological response, but even in those who fail to eradicate the infection. In chronic hepatitis B, interferon therapy reduces the risk of HCC development in HBeAg-positive and cirrhotic patients who achieve persistent suppression of viral replication, while in HBeAg-negative patients the beneficial effect of interferon-α is not definitively confirmed.

Presence of HBV-DNA in cord blood is associated with spontaneous preterm birth in pregnant women with HBeAg-negative chronic hepatitis B virus infection.

Spontaneous preterm birth is the leading cause of perinatal morbidity and mortality. In this study the spontaneous preterm birth rates in a group of hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-negative chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV)-infected pregnant women without known risk factors for preterm delivery as well as the role of maternal laboratory data and hepatitis B surface antigen/HBV deoxyribonucleic acid (HBV-DNA) in cord blood in respect to preterm labour were evaluated. 138 consecutive HBeAg-negative chronic HBV-infected pregnant women were evaluated during the perinatal period.

A review of the treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus infection in cirrhosis.

Background: Cirrhosis developing during chronic infection with the hepatitis C virus (HCV) poses a risk of anticipated liver-related death, therefore representing a dominant indication to anti-HCV therapy.

Objective: This review highlights the efficacy and safety of treatment of HCV infection in cirrhotic patients with respect to the clinical stage of the disease.

Methods: The PubMed, MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Cochrane databases, as well as the conference proceedings from the annual meetings of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, the European Association for the Study of the Liver, and the Asian Pacific Association for the Study of the Liver, were searched for articles published in English from January 1990 through May 2010, fulfilling the following criteria: (1) randomized, prospective observational, retrospective, or meta-analysis; (2) involving adult patients with chronic HCV infection; and (3) data (fibrosis stage, treatment regimen, efficacy, safety) available for cirrhotics.

Interferon in the treatment of chronic hepatitis C: a drug caught between past and future.

Introduction: Chronic hepatitis C affects 2.2 - 3% of the world population (130 million - 170 million). Pegylated IFN-α in combination with ribavirin, the currently approved therapy, leads to viral eradication in about 50% of treated patients, nevertheless it is associated with not negligible adverse events.

Spontaneous preterm birth in women with chronic hepatitis B virus infection.

Objective: To determine whether chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, as evidenced by serum levels of HBsAg and HBV DNA, is a risk factor for spontaneous preterm birth (SPB).

Method: The prevalence of HBV infection and the SPB rate were prospectively investigated among 1826 pregnant women, 30.89% Albanian and the remainder of other European origins.

Hepatitis B markers and vaccination-induced protection rate among Albanian pregnant women in Greece.

Hepatitis B has long been a serious public health problem both in Greece and in Albania. In the February 2009 issue of World Journal of Gastroenterology, Resuli et al presented the interesting epidemiological data concerning hepatitis B virus infection in Albania. The results of this study were discussed and several data from our similar research were provided.

Clinical outcome of lamivudine-resistant chronic hepatitis B patients with compensated cirrhosis under adefovir salvage treatment. Importance of HCC surveillance.

Background: Data concerning the outcome of lamivudine-resistant (LAM-R) chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients with compensated cirrhosis under adefovir (ADV) treatment are limited. The aim of our study was to evaluate the medium term outcome of these, high-risk for fatal events, patients.

Methods: 31 LAM-R patients with compensated cirrhosis who had been treated with ADV monotherapy (n=8) or ADV plus LAM (n=23) for a mean of 27.

Predictive value of complete and partial early virological response on sustained virological response rates of genotype-4 chronic hepatitis C patients treated with PEG-interferon plus ribavirin.

Objectives: To investigate early viral kinetics, sustained virological response (SVR) rates and their predictors, in treatment-naïve, genotype-4-infected, chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients treated with PEG-IFNalpha2b plus ribavirin.

Patients And Methods: In total, 58 patients were retrospectively analyzed. Early virological response (EVR) was defined as undetectable HCV-RNA (<50 IU/ml) at week 12 (complete, cEVR) or at least a 2 log decrease in HCV-RNA levels (partial, pEVR).

Left ventricular hypertrophy versus chronic kidney disease as predictors of cardiovascular events in hypertension: a Greek 6-year-follow-up study.

Objectives: We assessed the comparative prognostic role of left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) and chronic kidney disease (CKD) for major cardiovascular events in a prospective observational study in Greek essential hypertensive patients.

Methods: We followed up 1652 hypertensive patients (mean age 54.3 years, 696 male patients, office blood pressure 147/93 mmHg) free of cardiovascular disease for a mean period of 6 years.

Differential viral kinetics in treated genotype 4 chronic hepatitis C patients according to ethnicity.

Data concerning the efficacy of PEG-IFN alpha 2a plus ribavirin treatment in treatment-naive, genotype 4-infected chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients from Europe are limited. Hence the aim of this study was to investigate the viral kinetics as well as the sustained virological response (SVR) rates and their predictors, in these patients. One hundred and twenty-three patients were retrospectively analysed.

Impact of hepatitis B exposure on sustained virological response rates of highly viremic chronic hepatitis C patients.

Aim: To evaluate the impact of hepatitis B core antibody (anti-HBc) seropositivity in sustained virological response (SVR) rates in treatment-naïve, chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients with high pretreatment viral load (>800000 IU/mL).

Methods: 185 consecutive CHC patients (14.4% cirrhotics, 70.

Thyroid dysfunction in patients with chronic hepatitis C: virus- or therapy-related?

Background And Aims: Thyroid dysfunction (TD) represents an extrahepatic manifestation of chronic hepatitis C (CHC). Moreover, the currently approved treatment of CHC is often associated with TD. However, it remains debatable if TD is mainly virus- or treatment-related.

Surveillance for hepatitis B virus infection in pregnant women in Greece shows high rates of chronic infection among immigrants and low vaccination-induced protection rates: preliminary results of a single center study.

Epidemiological data on the prevalence of serological markers of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in pregnant women in Greece are limited. We evaluated the prevalence of HBV serological markers in a multinational population of pregnant women in Athens, Greece. The overall prevalence of hepatitis B surface antigen (HbsAg) was 4.

Unusual initial presentation of primary systemic (AL) amyloidosis with severe cardiomyopathy and fatal outcome.

Primary (AL) amyloidosis is the most common form of systemic amyloidosis seen in current clinical practice. The symptoms of the disease are usually vague, special features are seen in fewer than one fifth of patients, and the combination of organs and systems involved provides a clue for the diagnosis. We describe a patient in whom asymptomatic hepatomegaly, cardiomegaly, hyperlipidaemia and elevated serum alkaline phosphatase level were found during routine examination; the final diagnosis was primary systemic AL amyloidosis with severe cardiomyopathy, resulting in a fatal outcome within eight months from the diagnosis.

Immunogenicity of recombinant hepatitis B vaccine in treatment-naive and treatment-experienced chronic hepatitis C patients: the effect of pegylated interferon plus ribavirin treatment.

Aim: To retrospectively evaluate the vaccination-induced anti-HBs seroconversion rates in treatment-naive and treatment-experienced chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients. Also to prospectively evaluate the seroconversion rates in CHC patients during pegylated interferon (PEG) plus ribavirin (RIB) treatment.

Methods: Seventy treatment-naive CHC patients (group A), 22 sustained virological responders-SVR following interferon (IFN) plus RIB treatment CHC patients (group B) and 121 healthy subjects (group C) had been participated in the same HBV vaccination schedule (20 microg, 0-1-6 mo).

Clinical significance of serum procalcitonin levels in patients with acute or chronic liver disease.

Objective: To evaluate the diagnostic value of serum procalcitonin levels in patients with acute or chronic liver disease, with or without bacterial infections and to correlate the results with the clinical outcome and the laboratory findings for these patients.

Methods: One hundred and six consecutive hospitalized patients with liver disease were evaluated for procalcitonin levels on admission. Fifteen of them (14.

Relationship between serum b2-microglobulin levels and virological breakthrough in HBeAg-negative chronic hepatitis B patients, under long-term treatment schedules including lamivudine.

Aim: Predictive value of serum b2-microglobulin (b2m) levels for virological breakthrough (VB) in HBeAg-negative chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients under long-term treatment schedules including lamivudine (LAM).

Methods: Serum b2m levels were calculated during treatment in 25 CHB patients under long-term LAM monotherapy (group A) and 12 patients under initial interferon plus LAM treatment followed by LAM monotherapy (group B), using the MEIA technology. We used Cox proportional hazard models in order to investigate the association between serum b2m levels and VB.

The controversial role of serum uric acid in essential hypertension: relationships with indices of target organ damage.

The role of serum uric acid (SUA) in the context of adverse cardiovascular events in hypertensive subjects is controversial. Additionally, the relationship between SUA and indices of target organ damage is not well defined in this setting. Towards this end, we studied 842 consecutive nondiabetic patients with stage I-II essential hypertension (office blood pressure=148/95 mmHg, aged 53.